Mulberry Harbour guided walk. (3 miles, 2 hours). Please read description.

The Mulberry Harbour guided walk. Please read description. 

This 3 mile walk will take approx. 2 hours. (allow 2hrs30 just in case). 

The Phoenix Caisson C1-126 known locally as the 'Mulberry harbour' is in fact just one section of a mulberry harbour. These harbours were floated across the English channel in sections and assembled at Gold beach and Omaha beach in Normandy to assist the allied invasion on D day (6th June 1944).

In preparation for D-Day 213 of these Phoenix units of varying size were built mainly around the Thames and South coast. The one now sitting in two pieces near Southend was actually built by Henry Boot & sons at Goole on the river Humber in Yorkshire. 

At 203'6" long x 32' wide x 30' high, it had a draft of 14'3" and a displacement of 2,420 tons. These C1s were the second smallest of the Phoenix Caisson units. The A1s were the biggest at 204' long x 56'3" wide x 60' high had a draft of 20' and a displacement of 6,044 tons. 

There were 17 C1s built numbered C1-121 to C1-137. C1-126 was one of six built at Goole but sadly never made it to the muster point at Littlestone-on-sea. On her journey down from the Humber she sprang a leak and the Admiralty diverted her into the Thames so the leak could be investigated and repaired. HMS Leigh directed the tug towing her to position C1-126 on the West Knock sandbank, but as the tide went out she broke her back on the uneven ground. 80 years later she is still there as a lasting reminder of the phenomenal engineering effort that went into building the Mulberry harbours.

Credit for this information to www.thecretefleet.com a great site to learn more about the concept / design /construction and deployment of these Mulberry harbour units as well as other concrete ships of WW1 and WW11. 

Our guided walk will give you a good view of the structure and nearby shipping lanes. At approx. 3 miles, this walk usually takes between 2hrs and 2hrs30, giving photographers plenty of time to capture some great images. We can look for wildlife and on a nice day you may wish to have a swim. 

I plan these walks on the best tides of the year to give walkers great views of the structure. The tidetables give a PREDICTED height of water at both high and low tides but occasionally due to weather conditions (often strong winds further up the north sea, the tide goes nowhere near as far as its predicted (a storm surge) and I have to call off for safety reasons.  
Quite a few people each year put themselves in severe danger walking out to the Mulberry harbour at the wrong time, because the tide often comes in quickly and not from the direction you would expect. It is always best to go with an experienced local guide.  

Important - whatever you wear on your feet and lower legs will get wet. We recommend that you wear shorts and old trainers or aqua shoes, as we will possibly have to wade through water knee deep.  Dress sensibly for the weather. There is no shelter from the wind or the sun once you are away from the shore. Bring a windproof jacket and consider wearing sunscreen and a sun hat.