HIGH-FLYING snapper Jason Hawkes was stunned by the bird’s eye view of the south Essex coastline.

He travelled the county by helicopter, following the twisting banks of the Thames Estuary round to the River Crouch, taking pictures for his new book, Essex Coast – From the Air.

Jason, 41, has flown all over the world capturing landscapes and man-made objects from the skies, but admitted he was impressed by the beauty in this corner of England.

“Essex wasn’t what I expected at all. It was a very nice surprise,” says Jason, who lives in Oxfordshire.

“Essex really went against all the stereotypes. It was so beautiful.”

The 400-mile coastline is believed to be the longest of any county in England.

It is riven by tidal inlets and the major estuaries of the rivers Stour and the Thames.

The photography in this book reveals many less trodden paths and the thriving wildlife havens of the area’s desolate marsh and wetlands. It takes in Canvey, Southend and Wallasea Island, before heading across the Crouch to Burnham, then north to Clacton and Frinton- on-Sea.

Jason was intrigued by his flight over Foulness, the military-controlled island which tests defence equipment.

He said: “When I was up in the air I didn’t know much about the places I was passing over.

“It wasn’t until I got back home, looked at the pictures and did some research that things became clearer.

“Foulness was fascinating. Very open and natural, but with this strange, big muddy circle plonked out in the sea, right next to the coast there.

“I don’t know what these things do, but the scale of them was huge. It looked as if it might possibly turn in some way and there was a sort of path crossing the top, but I couldn’t tell you what it was.”

Essex Coast - From the Air, is published by Halsgrove at £14.99.

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