I will walk 500 miles … in search of Darwin’s ship on the Essex coast

The third leg of the Beach of Dreams walk comes to the historic River Crouch, and the baffling disappearance of HMS Beagle

• Read part one and part two of the walk

The river crossing from South Woodham Ferrers to Hullbridge looks like a scene from a John Constable painting: two men in shorts and big boots are washing down their horses in the river as Duncan from the yacht club rows me across the swirling tidal waters of the River Crouch. I’m heading across to meet other walkers participating in the Beach of Dreams project, a 500-mile walk around the Suffolk and Essex coasts. Duncan points downriver. “That’s Brandyhole Reach, where the smugglers would bring their barrels to hide from the excisemen.”