Walking To Walton In The Early 1960s

A Memory of Frinton-On-Sea.

My grandparents lived in Frinton-on-Sea from 1959 and as a child I would regularly stay with them in their bungalow for a week or so each school summer holiday.

Every holiday my brother and I looked forward to a visit to Walton Pier for the penny arcade and the thrill rides. (Fifty years later we still happily recall the smells, noises and atmosphere of the pier!)

Being a keen walker my grandfather would lead us on the hike from Frinton to Walton along the "front". It can be seen from the photograph that there is no promenade at this section of the walk - the Frinton promenade ends well to the right, out of shot, and the Walton section commences just beyond the headland shown. It can also be seen that the cliff has suffered terrible errosion which has eaten its way back near the breakwater. At low tide we walked along the beach but otherwise the only way was along the "greensward" and the cliff path which disappeared at one section and we had to go inland and use the roads.

Fortunately during my years of holidays at Frinton the promenade was completed and, as today, it was possible to complete the walk along the prom as well as the cliff pathway.