Fish & Chips In Brightlingsea

A Memory of Brightlingsea.

During the late 40's and 50's we all travelled to Jaywick Sands for our summer and bank holidays and on the weekends made regular excursions to the nearby seaside resorts of Frinton and Walton-on-the Nase but my favourite was Brightlingsea, the main reason being that we went to collect winkles for a Sunday evening snack on returning home, complete with a pin for their removal.
The best bit was crossing from the harbour to the beach by a rowing boat ferry, I do not recall there being a charge for this service but doubt that it was no more than sixpence or perhaps one shilling with the return journey.
One alighted we would search in the long strands of seaweed for the rocks on which the winkles lived. Funnily enough having said that I still cannot really recall whether the winkles were attached to the rocks or seaweed or just lying in the pools of water, but as its going back seventy years its not that surprising!
Before leaving we would buy our fish and chips, usually plaice, from a shop on the right hand side when leaving the harbour area.

Many years later, probably 50 I would guess I took my wife along to visit Brightlingsea when returning home following a day trip to Jaywick and we had a wonderful fish and chips meal in what I believe was the very same shop.
There really is nothing like fish and chips with bread and butter taken at at the seaside, don't spoil my memory by telling me that is most probably came from Lowestoft.
10th June 2016

Well, its now August 2022 some 32 years on and an update is required as on a spur of the moment I set out again for the east coast, this time on my own as I lost my beloved wife on New Years Eve.
The traffic was heavy and rather than continue to Jaywick Sands I branched off towards Point Clear and Brightlingsea .What a change greeted me as the once quiet fishing outlet had changed into a busy seaside holiday town with multi-coloured beach huts stretching round the waters edge leading to a small sandy beach that I had no previous knowledge of. The small shingle sea inlet seafront bathed in summer sunshine home to countless small boats and bathers on paddle boards and dinghy's.
I didn't the have time nor did I identify the whereabouts of the ferry over to point clear but will do so on another day as am hoping to revisit this charming resort again later in this year or certainly next. Oh, and yes, the fish and chip shop is still there, busy as ever and serving up generous plates of delicious fish and chip. New owners of course but much the same, clean and inviting end to yet another beautiful day trip.
I wonder if people still search for winkles as we did in the 1950's? I didn't spot any such activity but then again I believe that we "winkled" across the bay where there was a shingle beach and rocky pools home to crabs and shrimps.
Can any reader update me?
John Russell
31st August 2022