London to Amsterdam - Day 7 - Colchester to Manningtree

Rating: 3.9 / 5

Distance: 16.7 miles

This is the seventh day of my longest hiking adventure yet. I am hiking from London to Amsterdam in stages.

I got a lift back to Colchester North Station by my father, which is where I finished day 6’s hike.

I made my way from Colchester North Station to Manningtree Railway station. I followed High Woods Country Park for a big proportion of the way out of Colchester.

I walked through the village of Great Horskley.

Further along my route I saw a bunch of alpacas that I'm pretty confident had escaped from a neighbouring field! A man was walking around the side of a farmer’s field. I think they were his and he was encouraging them to go back.

I then rejoined the Essex Way long distance walking path for the rest of the journey to Harwich. On route I passed two quaint churches. One of them was called Ardleigh church. The Essex way was okay – however there was a fair bit of road walking on the route.

Dedham village was the highlight of this day. It was picture perfect. There were lots of people here, especially by the river. There were many paddle boarders. The river was just as popular as the River Chelmer (that I hiked on day 4 of this adventure). The River Stour was also very scenic.

For a small part of this route I was walking along the north side of the River Stour which meant that I was actually walking in Suffolk! Another county I can say I’ve hiked in on my website :).

I took a small detour to visit Flatford Mill, which is the location of the famous painting “The Hay Wain” by John Constable.

I had a portion of chips when I arrived in Manningtree. That night me and my father camped in a village called Bentley in Suffolk. He drove me there.

To watch a 5-minute short film of my London to Amsterdam adventure, see the YouTube video (below the photographs). Cheers