Summer Stories
“With fresh oysters, good local wine and sandy beaches, I’d happily be marooned here on Mersea Island.” Although I’m an Essex girl and confirmed oyster fan, Mersea Island has been off my radar up until now. Drawn by a buzzing shellfish scene and rural country life, this tiny island is enjoying a quiet renaissance. We’re staying at the Mersea Island Holiday Park on East Mersea, a peaceful caravan park overlooking a private beach and nature reserve. The holiday park is the newest member of the Away Resorts’ family and its first park on the Essex coast. Driving along the county’s long, winding roads, the stresses of work, school and modern life seem to rewind as we pass villages with devilishly smutty names like Fingringhoe and Cockaynes Wood, many with thatched cottages and scarecrows waving from rapeseed fields. Mersea Island is reached by The Strood, an ancient Roman causeway which is submerged during particularly high tides,
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cutting the island off from the mainland. This adds a frisson of danger to our trip, I tell the kids. Time it wrong and we’ll be castaways. After a warm welcome at the clubhouse, we head to our three-bedroom luxury caravan on The Elms. The park is small enough to navigate our way around easily, moments from the Muddy Duck bar and clubhouse, which has live music most weekends, a kids’ play area and an outdoor swimming pool, all blessed with views of the nature reserve and beach. After the long drive, it’s nice to see our beds ready made for us to fall in to. There’s plenty of space in the caravan – so I can separate the teenager from his younger sisters – and the lounge is big enough to relax in without feeling like we’re on top of each other. The modern kitchen is fully equipped with a full-size fridge/freezer, proper oven and a microwave, while
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