The UK’s ‘most dangerous’ walk is known as The Broomway in Essex and dozens of people have lost their lives there after simply setting off at the wrong time or because of unpredictable tides
An Amazon delivery van was found abandoned on the country’s “deadliest path” last weekend — and it led to all sorts of jokes online.
‘Amazon has completed your delivery’ was the main one after the picture of the motor stuck on mudflats on the Essex coast went viral. Another quipped that “Kevin the seal” must have ordered something.
The unfortunate driver had to leave the vehicle on The Broomway, at Great Wakering, after getting stuck on mudflats on the tidal causeway.
They were following their GPS with the intention of reaching Foulness Island on the evening of February 14. After getting stuck a spokesperson for HM Coastguard Southend later said: “The delivery driver had removed themselves from the van and reported the incident to Amazon.
“HM Coastguard’s primary concern was for the safety of the occupants and any possible pollution.”
However, despite the banter on social media, the 600-year-old path, which stretches six miles into the Thames Estuary, is known as the most dangerous in Britain, and for good reason.
It is recommended that people only walk along it (driving is not recommended) with a guide present.
Unpredictable tides make it ominous and there are said to be more than 100 people who have lost their lives on it.
Writer Robert Macfarlane mentioned it in his book The Old Ways where he said it was the “unearthliest path I have ever walked”.
And referencing The Broomway killing more than 100 people, he added: “It seems likely that there were other victims whose fates went unrecorded. Sixty-six of its dead are buried in the little Foulness churchyard; the other bodies were not recovered.”
He also said that Edwardian newspapers eventually referred to it as The Doomway as opposed to The Broomway.
And explaining how contrasting it can be, he wrote: “The Broomway traverses vast sand flats and mud flats that stretch almost unsloped for miles. When the tide goes out at Foulness, it goes out a great distance, revealing shires of sand packed hard enough to support the weight of a walker.
“When the tide comes back in, though, it comes fast – galloping over the sands quicker than a human can run.
“Disorientation is a danger as well as inundation: in mist, rain or fog, it is easy to lose direction in such self-similar terrain, with shining sand extending in all directions.”
He also said some surfaces walkers come across are unreliable and he explained how mud can “trap you” while quicksand can “swallow you”.
However, he added: “But in good weather, following the right route, it can feel nothing more than a walk on a very large beach.”
The treacherous tidal byway, which stretches out into a military firing range, is a public right of way and is managed by Essex Highways while the Ministry of Defence have owned it since 1915. It has been used as a munitions proving ground for years.
Misjudging the tide or getting lost in bad conditions has resulted in deaths in the past — but according to 19th century writer Philip Benton, some islanders found a thrill with using the dangerous route.
He wrote in History of the Rochford Hundred: “It is extremely perilous for any stranger to attempt the passage to or from this island without a guide, but the dangers attending it have been a pleasurable excitement to many.
“Some farmers would stay to the last, and then race the tide, and swim the creeks.”
The last person to lose their life on The Broomway — named from hundreds of brooms once placed at intervals either side of the track — was said to be a man who was returning from the market in Rochford before disaster struck in 1919.
