October 3rd, 2008 - Harwich, a Day at the Seaside

Bright and early on Friday, we boarded a bus to Liverpool Street Station in north east London, from which trains serve the 2 o'clock sector of England, known as East Anglia. About an hour and a half later, during which we reached speeds of 92 mph, we alighted in Harwich and were chastened by cold, windy and wet weather. Brr.
Harwich is a threadbare coastal town in the county of Essex, that provides the only significant protected anchorage on the North Sea coast between the Thames in the south and the River Humber in Yorkshire. The town received its charter in 1238, became a naval base in 1657 and was fortified with the Harwich Redoubt and a couple of coastal batteries in 1808, to ward off possible attack during the Napoleonic War. At one time an important port, Harwich, like the ports of London, was left behind by containerization and now has little more than a struggling ferry terminal. It is highly-regarded in architectural circles and is mostly under protection as a conservation area.
Some buildings of note include the parish church of St. Nicholas and the Guildhall of 1769, the only Grade I listed building in Harwich. The Pier Hotel of 1860 and Great Eastern Hotel of 1864 (now an apartment block) both grew out of increased traffic after the railway arrived in 1854. Click here for more.