Arial view of two tree island to southend Essex

Discover Britain through walking with the Royal Geographical society with IBG

Explore the history, nature and views your Country has to offer by walking. And it couldn’t be easier since the Royal Geographical Society has done all the hard work for you – all you have to do is download all the information you need from their website http://www.discoveringbritain.org get your walking boots on, and get moving… And what better time to be thinking about walking than in February. We all need to blow the cobwebs off that the winter entangles us in, and if you, like me, need to lose a few pounds but cannot do it by dieting, then getting moving is the answer. It can also help with the lack of energy we can feel by the short days of winter and lack of sunlight that we suffer.

Not only that, these walks can be done anytime, Winter or Summer, and at your own pace. Perhaps take a friend or family and enjoy the sights together. Take a camera, send photos to magazines or your local newspaper – all good fun!

You can travel to these walks or find one near your home – and be amazed at what natural delights are on your doorstep and they are not strenuous walks, giving more people the chance to walk them from 2 mile City or Town walks, to 2-6 mile countryside or seaside walks.

The website is easy to use, and you can choose walks by region, setting or landscape. You can see route maps for the walks, with points of interest shown with photos and information, reviews from people who have tried the walk, links to relevant external websites if you would like to find out even more and a complete photo gallery. Downloads include audio commentary, a children’s activity sheet to get them involved along the walk, a complete walking route, a route script so you can read all about what you are seeing along the walk, and a walk summary.

See my local Essex walk here: http://www.discoveringbritain.org/walks/region/east-of-england/essex-estuary.html which takes you from Benfleet to Leigh on sea. I am also pleased to say that I supplied the aerial photo of Two Tree Island for this walk.

About RGS-IBG

The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) is an educational charity and the learned society and professional body for geography and geographers.

The Society was founded in 1830 and has had a long and distinguished history in scientific research and exploration and in sharing new knowledge with a wide range of audiences. Today the Society is a leading world centre for geography and geographical learning – supporting research, education, expeditions and fieldwork, public enjoyment of geography and the transfer of knowledge to policy.

Members support the Society’s work through their subscriptions, have access to a wide range of activities and receive the Geographical Magazine. Membership is open to everyone who has an interest in the world around them (www.rgs.org/joinus).

So, do something new today and get moving!

Sandra

We had the dim sum basket to start which was lovely.  But it became disappointing.  Plain rice, well there’s nothing to say about that, it is what it is.   The seabass dish steamed with ginger was lovely.  Kung po king prawns I thought were bland and the prawns did not have a nice texture.  And then the so called stir fried vegetables turned out to be virtually all cabbage with a bit of brocolli and were soggy and tasteless yet we asked for them in garlic and ginger.  We were not asked mid meal if our meal was OK, but we called them to change the vegetables and they did, so that was good.  But, they came back just as soggy but at least had garlic and ginger on them.  I couldn’t eat them though and I love my vegetables. I cannot eat soggy vegetables.  I expected bok choi or something more chinese and crunchy.  The waitress/possible manageress? came over and asked us if they were OK second time and I said they were soggy and not stir fried as they had obviously been par steamed or par boiled before going into the wok.  She disagreed and said they were stir fried and that they may be different to other restaurants.  Yes they certainly are and they were horrible but I didn’t appreciate the rudeness or curtness in her attitude.  And they definitely were NOT stir fried, and wouldnt be soggy in the two minutes they took to redo them.

So, I cannot say all the food was bad because half of it was OK, but not worth the prices they charge overall.  There are far better Chinese/asian restaurants in the Southend area (as you will see from my over 100 restaurant reviews in Essex on this site) and I regret trying this one as the rudeness of service did not stop there but I will not go into it.

There are so many good restaurants in the area, of all types, so will stick to those.

Date of visit: 2^nd February 2012

Ambience out of 5: 3

Service out of 5: 0

Food out of 5: 2

Value for money out of 5: 1

http://platinumhouse.co.uk/NuAysia.aspx

grey goose rochford essex restaurant butternut squash curry

 We visited this new restaurant/bar on 31st January 2012, just two months after it opened. The front door leads you into a bare looking bar that smells new but has no atmosphere. There are a few tables downstairs for dining, but the main restaurant is upstairs in an open plan design. The evening was admittedly very cold outside, but it wasn’t because of that that we felt far from cosy inside. There are no pictures, no flowers, no ornaments of any kinds, just a plain walled design with not the best wooden beamed ceiling in an open plan design. The lights were not particularly cosy either, as they are too bright individually although the overall restaurant was not and at least they have candles. I mention this because I believe a lot of money was spent on this new restaurant/bar and I just couldn’t see it.Down to the food, it was very disappointing, and we left hungry even after 2 courses each.

To start we had the prawn cocktail with wasabi prawns – little prawns, a load of mayonnaise with a little wasabi taste, a little bread and some lettuce, just plonked on the plate. The lemon wasn’t even trimmed with pips and pith still on it – just a messy slice basically. It was edible but not tasty.

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We also had the duck starter which was delicious! A torn up confit duck leg, on lettuce, in a carefully sliced cucumber basket, with a beautiful cooked plum sauce with crisp apple slices. A wonderful starter with the taste of the Chinese crispy aromatic duck, but better. This left us encouraged, but it was the last nice thing we tried unfortunately.

Overall, the menu is basic – steak and chips, fish and chips, lamb and veg, chicken with rice and salad, salmon. I wasn’t overally inspired, but I chose the baked butternut squash curry with coriander rice.

The curry, although a nice warm heat of spices, was too strong and lacked in any depth of flavour. The rice didn’t taste of coriander at all, and was just an overcooked slab of rice on the plate. No finesse in serving at all – you will see by the photos. It didn’t even come with a raitha, a naan, a popodum or anything and for £10.95 and being unable to eat more than half of it, it was terrible.

Michael had the Pan-fried calves liver, crispy pancetta, creamed potatoes in a red wine jus. The jus was bland and watery, there was a huge amount of liver, which is fine of course but he couldn’t eat it all. The mash was tasteless – not buttery, not seasoned, just mashed up potatoes with no creamy texture. And not enough pancetta for the liver he said. He only ate half of it which is unusual for him. The veg that arrived with it all was new potatoes, a load of cauliflower and some steamed courgette – not what you’d want with liver and mash – bland and not seasoned or buttered.

We didn’t stay for a dessert, even though we were still hungry. We went to Marks and Spencer and got a profiterole stack and ate it at home, which was nice.

The wine list is basic, but we had the Borolo which was lovely, but weren’t there long enough to even drink it all.

We were asked if we enjoyed the main once it was cleared away but not before, and we said we didn’t enjoy it and it was ‘average’ We were told that she would tell the chef to try better next time! So we didn’t bother to explain what was wrong.  Although, the service was very pleasant, so I have no issue with that.  Just that the normal process would be to ask us mid meal if we are enjoying it, but we were not asked.  Having worked in Hotel and catering, and eating out a lot, I do notice these things.

To be honest we could eat much better in a café for £5!

Will not return. We went as a treat, and wished we hadn’t. They need to sort the food out if they are to charge the a la carte prices they do, that is for sure.  Our bill just for 2 courses was £35.50 (JUST FOR FOOD) and it wasnt worth it.

Date of visit: 31st January 2012

Ambience out of 5: 1

Service out of 5: 3

Food out of 5: 1

Value for money out of 5: 0

www.thegreygooserochford.co.uk

7-9 East Street

Rochford

Essex

SS4 1DB

Tel: 01702 544797

Tasty Bites Benfleet restaurant Essex Burger and chips

This is a café situated in the High Road, South Benfleet always seems to be busy whatever time of day, and it deserves to be.

They offer a fast service, freshly cooked food, and a large menu including pie mash and liquor, roast dinners on Sundays, burgers, full breakfasts and much more.

My Mum likes it too, and she is a good critic!

Date of visit – March 2011

How many dined? 2

Average price per person for 3 course meal (excluding drinks) – cheap (under £20)

Service charge included? no

Food – 7

Service – 7

Ambience – 6

Value for money – 8

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Phone:

01268 754 111

277 High Road, Benfleet, Essex SS7 5HA

Colin Wyatt of Canvey Essex his JetSet books

I want to tell you about a new series of books for children created by local Canvey illustrator, Colin Wyatt – they are animated, colourful and help raise awareness of the problems faced by a selection of animals in the wild and even better, all profits will go to the animal charity, the Born Free Foundation.

A little about Colin…

Colin Wyatt has been an illustrator since 1957 where he worked for Amalgamated Press, which later became IPC magazines, on children’s comics such as Jack and Jill and playhour. But from 1970 IPC bought the Disney franchise and he began working on the prestigious job of illustrating Disney characters for annuals, monthlies and weeklies – his dream job. During those years, he was even invited out to the Disney studios in Burbank, California where he and his family were able to see films being made and animation in action.

Later turning freelance for a few years, Colin co-created the Poddington Peas in 1985. Colin worked on all the animation and Paul Needs from Hadleigh, Essex, wrote the stories. So successful were the peas, it later became a TV series.

About the books…

Now, after years of illustrating for other people, Colin has created his own set of books, illustrating and writing the stories for his series ‘The Jet Set’. Basically, these are books for 5-8 year olds, and all four books tell a tale of the adventures of a group of four superhero animals (The Jet Set) who rescue other animals around the world who are in danger. The underlying purpose and message of these books is to raise awareness of environmental and conservation issues surrounding animals in the wild, and that is why in the back of each book there is a fact file on the animal featured in the book. So, the books are educational as well as giving children wonderful stories to read.

Helping charities and the plight of animals in the wild…

The fact file was put together by Virginia McKenna of the Born Free Foundation, which is a charity the actress set up with the message that wildlife are born free and should stay free and in the wild across the world. (www.bornfree.org.uk )The profits raised will go to the Born Free foundation, which is just lovely, so there are plenty of reasons why to buy the Jet Set books.

I have read all four of the series, and they are beautifully illustrated, colourful, easy to understand, take the reader on a fun journey with the Jet Set, and yet they are also educational and help animals stay in the wild. Who could ask for more from buying a set a children’s books?

 

Getting them published…

And it isn’t just Born Free or Colin who are animal lovers involved in this project. Colin’s daughter, Debz Hobbs-Wyatt teamed up with her Dad to publish these books through her publishing company, Paws n Claws publishing, which specialises in stories about animals in the wild and supports the Born Free Foundation.

Well done Colin, Debz and Born Free – I hope you sell lots of books and keep spreading the word about the plight of animals in the wild.

www.colin-wyatt.co.uk  – Read more about the man himself and the many characters he has worked on such as the Jungle Book, Care Bears, Thomas the tank engine and very many more!

www.thejet-set.com  – Gain some more insight into the books and use the links on this website to purchase the series or a singular book

www.pawsnclawspublishing.co.uk  – Read more about the publishing company set up by Debz Hobbs-Wyatt and other books she has published to raise awareness of the problems faced by animals in the wild

www.bornfree.org.uk  – Read all about the Born Free Foundation set up by actress Virginia McKenna and find out where profits from the Jet Set books will be going.

http://debzhobbs-wyatt.co.uk  – Debz Hobbs-Wyatt is also a published author herself and offers editorial help to other writers in the form of critiques and mentoring schemes.

I have now supplied to South Woodham Ferrers (Essex) Council for their website here: http://www.southwoodhamferrerstc.gov.uk/aerial-photograph  . Also, The Royal Geographical Society bought one for their new project ‘Discovering Britain’ which is a series of walks that will help people to explore and discover the beauty, wildlife and landscapes of Britain. I supplied to them a photo of Two tree Island, Essex.  The website is in progress so my photo and the walks are not on there yet, but do check it out soon and maybe you can discover Britain too! http://www.discoveringbritain.org

Yorkshire Life and Essex Life magazine have printed various photos and on top of that, I have sold Essex, Yorkshire and Orkney Scotland aerial photos to various private buyers, who wanted to give them as presents to loved ones. It’s a great idea as a present, birthday, Christmas or otherwise and I have supplied photos through the postal service as well as emailing j-pegs directly

I have aerial photos of many areas of Britain and my prices are well under other peoples, so if you think I might have a photo to suit, don’t hesitate to ask me.

info@notjustanessexgirl.com

As everyone will know by now, Dougie won, so well done to him but as far as I am concerned, well done anyone who can get through that show!!!

dale farm October 29 2011 Basildon Essex copyright Sandra M Dean

I thought I would take some aerial photos of Dale farm in Basildon, Essex now that the eviction has taken place and the council are clearing the land…

Apart from a few caravans the land has mainly been cleared.

More photos to follow…

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