People are being reminded to obey basic safety rules when visiting the coastline: following advice from warning flags; not swimming near, around or under structures such as piers, groynes and breakwaters; knowing their depth, being wary of sudden drops in the sea floor, and being aware of tides and currents; and not swimming while drunk.
This year will see a changed approach to Beach Patrol coverage along the beaches between Frinton and Walton-on-the-Naze; patrols along Princes Esplanade in Walton; and a presence to the East side of Clacton Pier.
These are part of the existing coverage provided in Brightlingsea, Dovercourt Bay, Frinton, Walton and Clacton by the service.
The changes are among the recommendations made following a review of the service by the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS), and TDC is putting in place some of the short-term measures while it considers the wider feedback.
Due to the Easter holidays being early this year, Beach Patrol will not begin operations until the Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend, which is also the start of school’s summer half-term break.
This allows the team more time for training and preparations for what is hoped will be a busy summer along the Essex Sunshine Coast.
Four new specialist toilet and changing facilities have opened along the Essex Sunshine Coast.
Changing Places facilities have been built in Brightlingsea, Clacton, Frinton and Holland-on-Sea by Tendring District Council (TDC).
A Changing Places facility is for people who cannot use traditional disabled toilets and include hoists, height-adjustable changing tables and sinks, and shower facilities too.
Grant funding of £300,000 from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities paid for the new facilities in Brightlingsea, Clacton and Holland Haven; while Essex County Council’s Short Breaks service, which supports disabled children in the county, funded the site in Frinton.
Full details of the locations of Changing Places facilities, and how to access them, can be found on the national website at www.changing-places.org/find.
A Clacton underpass has been brightened up with artwork created by local students.
The subway, which connects the two Brook Retail Parks, had been covered in graffiti before this project to make it more user-friendly.
A popular walking route between homes and local schools including Cann Hall Primary School and Clacton Coastal Academy, the initiative was drawn up to revamp the underpass to make it brighter and more pleasant for users.
Artist Scott Irving of Brave Arts led workshops with pupils from Clacton Coastal Academy who came up with ocean, space and cartoon themes to create the colourful murals for the walls of the subway.
The preparation of the site and installation of the mural was carried out by Tendring District Council (TDC).
Michael Talbot, TDC Cabinet Member for Environment, said the new-look subway was much-improved.
“The transformation of this underpass is incredible, largely thanks to the amazingly vibrant artwork by the artist and students involved,” Councillor Talbot said.
“I hope that the local community will now look after this lovely space in recognition of all of the hard work which has gone into this initiative.
“A huge well done must go to the ward member for driving this project forward, along with our TDC staff who have helped make this happen.”
The Tour Series, the fun, free and family-friendly cycling event, will put on a spectacular show by the sea this spring when it heads to Clacton.
Britain’s leading men’s and women’s riders will head to Tendring for round five of the 2022 series on Thursday 19 May, adding to Clacton’s already strong ties to the sport.
The Women’s Tour, the UK’s most prestigious international women’s cycle race, held a stage finish there for the third time in seven years in October 2021 while the men’s Tour of Britain visited in 2017.
Clacton will become only the third venue – after Colchester and Stoke-on-Trent – to have hosted the Tour of Britain, Women’s Tour and Tour Series. All three events are delivered by event organiser SweetSpot.
This new-for-2022 round will take place in the heart of Clacton, starting and finishing in sight of the sea on Pier Avenue. It will pass through the town centre before running alongside the town’s ferris wheel, pavilion and pier on Marine Parade East. Not only will fans get to see the action multiple times during the hour-long men’s and women’s races, the 1.4-kilometre circuit will offer two sightings per lap to anybody watching on from the Town Square.
Now in its 13th year, the Tour Series remains unique in professional cycling owing to its team-based format. Last year’s series saw the Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling and CAMS – Basso teams crowned as the men’s and women’s champions respectively; both are expected to race for glory in Clacton in May.
Highlights of both the men’s and women’s races will once again be broadcast on ITV4.
Mick Bennett, Tour Series race director, said: “We love being beside the seaside so bring on the Clacton-on-Sea round of this year’s Tour Series! It’s going to be another day of thrilling, unpredicted and engaging sporting action, all available to enjoy for free! Tendring District Council are among the leading supporters of cycling in the UK and their contribution to supporting family-friendly, free-to-watch events deserves a lot of praise.”
Councillor Alex Porter, Tendring District Council Cabinet Member for Leisure and Tourism, said: “Having staged the Tour of Britain and the Women’s Tour, it is fitting to now host a round of the Tour Series and we can’t wait to see the action unfold around Clacton town centre. We’re looking for the local community and businesses to engage so we can really put on a show for everyone and display how wonderful the town is.”
Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com – 23/05/2019 – Cycling – OVO Energy Tour Series – Round 6: Salisbury –
Four rounds for the 2022 series have already been announced: Guisborough will host the opener once again on Bank Holiday Monday (2 May), with Sunderland also returning for a second year running on Tuesday 10 May. In between them will be a first-ever visit to the Scottish Borders, as Galashiels stages round three on Wednesday 4 May.
The series will visit London for the first time since 2018 when Barking hosts what promises to be one of the quickest rounds in history on Saturday 21 May. Further details of this year’s series will be announced in the coming weeks.
With two months remaining until the action gets underway there are a range of sponsorship opportunities available with the Tour Series for 2022. Packages range from the title partnership of the event to sponsorship of individual classifications or awards and digital and broadcast opportunities. Visit sweetspotgroup.co.uk/partnerships/for more.
The Clacton 150 Anniversary Flights will replace the usual annual Clacton Airshow as whilst we would have loved to have organised a full flight display line-up and ground event this year, unfortunately due to COVID-19 restrictions throughout the planning stages this could not happen.
This flight only event can be observed along Clacton’s Seafront however, with social distancing in mind there is adequate viewing available from the East side of Clacton Pier (towards Holland-on-Sea) to Clacton Martello Beach including our upper and lower promenades.
Thursday 26 August 14:45 – 15:00 BBMF
15:15 – 15:45 Red Arrows
Friday 27 August 12:45 – 13:15 Red Arrows
13:30 – 13:45 BBMF
We encourage visitors use either the park & ride service provided by Hedingham which is available from Clacton Factory Outlet (CO15 4TL) or the West Road Cark Park (CO15 1AG ) run by the Rotary Club of Clacton-on-Sea, this is a cash only car park and is a 10 minute walk to Marine Parade West (CO15 1NW) however, an accessible shuttle service is available.
Some of the world’s best cyclists will pass through Colchester town centre as they take in a whistle-stop tour of north Essex as part of a prestigious race.
SweetSpot Group has announced the routes for the upcoming Women’s Tour 2021, the penultimate stage of which will see 16 teams race from Colchester’s Northern Gateway Sports Park to Clacton.
Riders will first complete a lap of the closed road circuit at the sports park before heading into the town centre where spectators will be able to watch from behind barriers.
The 95.5km route will then take riders through Ardleigh to Elmstead, before heading through Wivenhoe, Alresford, Thorrington and Brightlingsea.
It then travels into St Osyth before passing Clacton, where spectators will once again be able to cheer riders on.
Cyclists will complete a loop through Holland, Thorpe and Manningtree before ending up in Clacton once again.
Paul Dundas, leader of Colchester Council, said: “With Stage 5 of this international event beginning at Colchester’s new Northern Gateway Sports Park, it’s an excellent opportunity to showcase the excellent cycling facilities we can all now enjoy in the borough.
“As the route passes through our historic town centre, we look forward to seeing residents, visitors, schools and businesses join us to cheer on the riders as they race towards the finish line in Clacton.”
Alex Porter, Tendring Council’s leisure and tourism boss, said: “We know from the previous years we have hosted this elite race just what a spectacle it is, an event enjoyed by both dedicated cycling fans and newcomers to the sport as well.”
The Colchester to Clacton race takes place on Friday, October 8. Visit www.womenstour.co.uk.
Children have been making waves in a sculpture design competition as part of the summer art trail project Octopus Ahoy! The art and charity event features more than 100 octopus sculptures and has been organised to celebrate Clacton’s 150th anniversary and 400 years since the Mayflower set sail to the New World from Harwich. The octopuses will create a public art trail across north Essex.
Primary schools were invited to take part in the celebration of art, culture and history. Now the array of large professionally painted and smaller community painted octopus sculptures will propel their way across Essex to form an art trail across high profile locations for residents and visitors to follow.
A total of 60 school-designed sculptures took their seats at the Electric Palace cinema in Harwich for the final judging with a panel from Clacton Pier choosing the winner.
Nigel Brown, who was head of the judging panel from Clacton Pier, said: “We chose Holland Haven Primary School as we like the design, the name of Unity and the fact they have incorporated a large number of pupils’ drawings into the one octopus.”
Head teacher of Holland Haven Primary School Due Bardetti, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have the winning octopus. The children have thoroughly enjoyed producing designs to be part of the final sculpture. They were thrilled when we told them we had won and we are excited about the presentation.”
The winning sculpture design was delivered by TDC’s Clacton Beach Patrol via sea from the Martello Tower to Clacton Pier to applause from the school children watching on the beach.
Katie Skingle, director at KAT Marketing, who are delivering the Octopus Ahoy! project on behalf of Tendring Council, said: “The energy the schools have put into their sculpture designs has been incredible. The pupils have really loved getting stuck in and that enthusiasm shines through with the quality of the designs that have come back to us. “They are going to look fantastic when they hit their venues on June 25.”
The Octo-bus marked the start of the Clacton Rock bus routes heading around town this summer.
Davina Langley, marketing manager at Hedingham Omnibuses, said: “We are thrilled to re-launch our Clacton Breeze Bus Tours and join forces with Octopus Ahoy! as it’s a fabulous way to take in the town and beautiful seaside”
The free Octopus Ahoy! app is now available to download from Apple and Android stores from today. The app will help people to plan their route and list which prizes they want to scan and win via the QR codes at the bottom of each octopus base.
The free activity will lead to prizes ranging from octopus keyrings to free afternoon teas.
(Information and images from Clacton Gazette 01/06/2021).
English Tourism Week is fast approaching and will run from 22 – 31 May 2021. It’s a chance for tourism businesses all across England to celebrate our exciting and diverse visitor economy sector and showcase what we have to offer locally, regionally and nationally.
