Somewhere between Maldon and Mersea Island on the Essex coast, lies Copt Hall Nature Reserve. I never knew it existed but then it’s not exactly advertised. So, I thought I’d take a look. And as I discovered, it has quite a surprising history.
Let’s Get Quizzical
The other night Vikki and I were at a Quiz Night. It was organised by some local people trying to raise funds to keep the only hospital in Maldon, St. Peters, open. Imagine that, having to raise funds to keep public services i.e. services already paid for by the public, running.1
Maldon River
Anyway, at this quiz, one of the questions was, “Which river does Maldon sit upon?” And because we live there, everyone said, “Easy. The Blackwater.” But as we smugly filled in the answer, there was one lone, dissenting voice which stood up against the barrage of blustering buffoonery. Vikki.
The Battle of Blackwater Bay
“It’s not the Blackwater,” she said calmly. “Everyone thinks that. And they’re wrong. It’s the Chelmer.”
Some furrowed their brows and said, “But the Chelmer empties into the Blackwater upstream.” Some stated, “The Chelmer ends in Chelmsford.” Others said “What was the question again, I wasn’t really listening?” Cue debate, discussion, review and a then finally, a decision. We went with the Blackwater.
Fine Margins
Our team, missed out on winning by ½ a point. One half of a fricking point. And yes, the correct answer was The Chelmer. Vikki took no delight in reminding me afterwards that the difference between coming first and second was, technically speaking, the Blackwater/Chelmer question. But I still winced nonetheless.
Beeleigh Falls
So, what is it with the Blackwater and Chelmer that confuses so many? Well, it appears they both run around the Essex countryside for a bit until they get to Beeleigh which is just outside Maldon. Then it gets tricky, as the Chelmer takes over as the primary river, where it runs through Maldon and empties into the Blackwater estuary.
Blackwater Switcheroo
And what of the Blackwater then I hear you cry? Well, it turns into the Blackwater Canal before emptying into the Heybridge Basin before becoming the River Blackwater again. 2
So, on reflection it’s all very vexing and complicated but here’s the important thing.
The Important Thing
If you get in your car and take the B1026 Goldhanger Road, east from Maldon, and follow the flow of the River Blackwater (not the Chelmer) as it meanders its way towards the North Sea, after about 13 miles you would arrive at a place called Little Wigborough, where you would find Copt Hall Lane. And here is a Nature Reserve run by the National Trust.
Nature Reserve
Now, you wouldn’t necessarily know you were at a Nature Reserve when you get to the junction, because a.) there are no signs to it and b.) what signs there are, refer only to Copt Hall. The lane is quite long, so when Vikki and I visited, we drove down to the end and found a little National Trust car park, next to a large house, some farm buildings and a church.
The Great War
Little Wigborough is the smaller sibling of Great Wigborough, which is a mile or two along the road (above). But Little Wigborough is famous for something that happened during World War 1.
On the night of September 23rd 1916, a new German ‘super’ Zeppelin Airship, numbered L33, was shot down after a bombing raid on Bow, and the Thames warehouses in London. During the raid, the Airship was hit by an anti-aircraft shell and consequently began to lose height.
Railway
From the sky, the crew followed a railway line to Chelmsford, then followed the River Blackwater towards the Heybridge Basin. It was then a lone voice stated, “That isn’t the Blackwater. Everyone thinks that. But they’re wrong, It’s the Chelmer.” How the Germans laughed.
"Selbst die dummen Engländer kennen ihre eigenen Flüsse nicht!!"3
Cue discussion etc.
In the meantime, the ship had lost more height and as a result it crash landed at Little Wigborough.
Herr Kapitan!
The airship landed across Copt Hall Lane, where the commander, Kapitanleutenant Bocker decided to set light to the 650 foot aircraft before the British could get their hands on it.
With the sky ablaze in the distance, the crew walked 1½ miles to Peldon, where they were arrested by a special constable after asking directions to Colchester.
Dirigible
When the copper saw what had happened to the Zeppelin he said, “You can’t park there me old china,” and escorted them to West Mersea Church where they were held under armed guard. Later, they were moved to a POW Camp in Scotland for the remainder of the war.
Further reading on this story can be found here…Zeppelins over Essex | (essexrecordofficeblog.co.uk)
Also the following book provides further information.
Car Park
However, as you may recall, we weren’t here for Zeppelins, we were here for nature. Parking up, we looked at the signs (because once you get there, there are signs), and discovered the route to the marshes.
Now I use the phrase Nature Reserve advisedly because if you’re expecting the Springwatch crew to be down there wandering about in the undergrowth then you might be a little disappointed. There is a Bird Hide admittedly, not that we saw it as you will soon discover.
Grandiose
Having managed your expectations regarding the grandiosity of the reserve, one of the fundamental joys of discovering places literally ‘off the beaten track’ is there is often nobody else within miles. In reality though, this location isn’t ‘off the beaten track’, it’s ‘off the unbeaten track’…which itself is off the beaten track…if you get my meaning.
Maps
We studied the map, and took the path which wasn’t so much a path as route between two lines of trees and started walking. After a few minutes we discovered that even though it was bright and sunny, the path was less so and we had to make a few minor detours around newly formed ponds and lakes (slight exaggeration).
Skylark
For long periods, the only sounds we heard were those of the breeze and the birdsong. And every so often, the breeze would drop to a faint, light zephyr (or perhaps Zeppelin) and then the wildlife would also fall silent. And for a brief moment, it was so quiet the only thing I could hear was my tinnitus. Sometimes I could hear Vikki’s tinnitus too.
After walking for about 3 minutes we discovered we were lost and checking another map, which just confused us even more, we decided to go in the direction of the nearest path.
Oysters
This took us towards the marshes and a surprising view across the Blackwater. Because from this vantage point you can see the Coast Road at West Mersea (which is where Colchester Oysters are farmed) and the caravan site where I am writing this from.
The Gate Lakes
Next we ventured on towards the bird hide and following the path through the trees and hedgerows we discovered the furthest extent of the path to the hide, as another newly formed lake brought our recently discovered wanderlust to an unexpected conclusion.
Finding our way barred, we returned from whence we had come and decided to visit the church instead. Except, the route to that was barred also. By a sign, a fence and a woman voraciously mowing the lawn.
Copt Hall – The Return
And that was the end of a brief but enjoyable sojourn around Copt Hall. However, I returned a few weeks later to discover we would never have found our way to the hide anyway, irrespective of the lake at the gate, since we were walking in completely the wrong direction. So, on this occasion I decided to walk in the right direction which led me here.
From here it’s a 10 minute walk to the hide which, before you get too excited, really is only a shed in a field, with some narrow openings used for bird watching.
Species Categorisation
But I did manage to watch some birds from the hide. My knowledge of the complexities of avian species and sub-species categorisation is very limited, so I came up with my own classifications, which are as follows: if they’re flying they’re Pigeons, if they’re on water they’re Ducks, and if they’re trying to steal your chips, they’re Gulls.
Darwin, I feel would’ve approved.
Information
But here’s the thing: you don’t have to have any knowledge of nature to enjoy it. You just go somewhere, away from people and buildings preferably, and there it is. And usually, it’s free.
So, I hope you enjoyed your virtual visit to the Nature Reserve. If you want to physically visit, please note the car park is open between 8am – 6pm and it takes about 1½ hours to walk the whole route, with a stop off at the hide. Be aware that the ground currently (June ’24) is still damp underfoot, but it is mainly dry and flat.
Thank you for your time.
Back to Blogs
- If you want further information regarding fund raising for Maldon Hospital, see this facebook link Save Maldon’s Medical Services | Facebook
- In popular literature The River Blackwater (or Blackwater Estuary) is the location where the paddle steamer “Thunder Child” attacks and destroys alien tripods in H.G. Wells “The War of the Worlds”.
Also, you may recall the Battle of Blackwater Bay in George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones. Well, it has a similar name so… - Which, roughly translated means, "Even ze stupid Engleesh do not know zere own rivers!"