Walton Pier — Attraction in Tendring

Walton Pier is a pleasingly substantial structure, with shoreward amusements and a seaward deck both provided very generously. I visited the pier on a windy day in early June; therefore not in the holiday primetime. External impressions, from further along the promenade, is of a rather haphazardly arranged structure with a particularly garish collection of amusement halls at the shoreward end. On the Northern side, the strangely elegant horizontal lines of red and yellow walls are spoiled by a more modern extension (a grey box) to the amusements, finished in plain steel. The southern side certainly looks more attractive (all in relative terms of course - it is all corrugated asbestos hangars, after all). The entrance is covered with a full-width canopy built of colourful metal cladding; unfortunately it is quite a depressing place, with evidence of a former cafe closed off and much of the cosmetic metalwork rotting away. Proceeding inside is a long concourse, brightly lit by continuous rooflights. Flanking this, to the left, is the amusement arcade, and to the right, the indoor rides. The various halls are rather dingy places, making for a slightly spooky experience when venturing away from the bright concourse. Approaching the far end of the building, the lights stopped altogether and the only major light source was the door onto the deck. It was clear that the holiday season had not started yet; the pier was almost completely deserted. Eventually reaching the outside deck revealed a slightly sad-looking picnic area - an expansive concrete deck filled with then-disused picnic tables. One good sign, however, was the large pile of wood planks left to one side in the pier's storage area - clearly intended for some deck repairs , something which a walk further down the pier proved to be thoroughly necessary. The seaward end is remarkably plain and featureless, except for the occasional fisherman's hut or tidal gauge, and this provided an excellent viewing experience of the surrounding area: the sea of colourful beach huts, the Naze tower, and out to sea towards the wind farms and the abandoned Gunfleet Lighthouse. Meanwhile, the decking seemed to be holding up quite well until around halfway down the pier, where it began to gradually deteriorate. Eventually a point was reached where selective footwork had to be deployed, which is never a good sign - this pier is not good for those who do not look where they are going! Of course, the pile of new planks, seen earlier, suggests that this problem will soon be addressed. The end of the pier flares into a horn-shaped head, necessitating some interesting deck planking arrangements which would have certainly given the pier engineer a headache. There is not much to see here: several blue plastic benches, the tide gauge hut, a closed-off corner of the head which is gradually collapsing, and another corner which shakes when waves hit the pier. Despite the feeling of great peril, I was actually enjoying this pier! It has a feeling of quiet isolation and (forgetting the shoreward amusements) is largely unspoiled. In fact, it is one of very few surviving piers which bring you so far into the sea, but leave you in silence and peace. I do appreciate this, and hope that it survives for a while longer. I fear that, practically speaking, it is only the RNLI berth at the end that is justifying the existance and maintenance of the seaward end.

I imagine that the pier is a different place during the summer holidays, the infrastructure is there and the pier has an enthusiastic social media page, so it will probably be a much 'happier' place when you visit than when I did. During out-of-season?... your satisfaction depends on whether you appreciate 'shabby chic-ness' and intense...

My girls (5 and 7) had a great time on Walton pier across 2 weeks in August. The whole family did! £20 family wristbands (2 adults, 2 kids). Theres only really dodgems and waltzer for adults but we went on the dodgems more than 8 times in one day and the waltzer 3 times. The girls joined us as well going on the Teacups, aeroplane ride, train ride, trampolines, swing carousel, baby drop tower (this was hilariously rubbish but would have been good for younger ones). They are adding a massive soft play which was being built on our last day. Definitely a cheap and enjoyable day out!! There is also bowling there which is an added cost (about £30 for 4 of us).

We spent way more than we should on 2p machines and won lots of tickets and prizes and the girls enjoyed choosing the prizes on the last day. We felt it was good value for money with the amount of tickets being handed out and the ticket cost of the prizes as well as decent prizes in the machines like care bears and Disney toys.

There is a fish and chips stall which I would say was the best fish and chips we've had in Walton over the last 2 years (we tested a lot 🙈). The price was reasonable too but did rise while we were there from £9 to £10 for fish and chips. £6 for Saveloy or battered sausage and chips. £3 for a draught soft drink (Coca Cola, Fanta, Sprite). There was also a doughnut van, and waffle place. The doughnuts were good, we've yet to try the waffles.

There were plenty of benches with tables to sit inside and a few outside.

Unfortunately, the outside ones were above open trenches where the electrical wires laid and the bins were multiple, overflowing and right next to the benches. Opposite the pier is a small piece of wasteland. For the last 2 yrs at least, it has been covered in rubbish. We spent one lunchtime watching mice running all over it. I wish whoever owned the land either cleared it up or fenced it off. It had packing from new storage heaters this time.

You can see the amazing improvements that have been made and how it's still ongoing. Should be spectacular by the time we go...

Went for an afternoon out with the family. We were thoroughly entertained. Really vibrant and brightly decorated, so a great arcade ambience! We had bags of fun, a really good selection of machines.

You'll have to choose from: Basketball orientated games LOADS of 2p machines A variety of shooting games with gun controllers Many digital games like; Piano tiles, Doodle Jump, and more Classic Pinball machines Dance! Dance! Revolution! Driving games and many more!

HOWEVER...

I do have a few setbacks with our visit in comparison to some other local arcades like Clacton Pier Arcades. But bear in mind that we we're visiting off-peak before the half-term, so some functions might still be waiting to be fixed before the busy period.

That being said, we did lose out on about half of the arcade because a lot of machines were not operational. Of those that were; I would say we ran into some type of problem with just under half of the ones we used. Missing balls, some wouldn't give tokens, some machines didn't have any sound to them. That, and none of the change machines seemed to like our cash, but I imagine that was more our money, than the machines themselves.

THE TOILETS!

The ladies bathroom was decent with a lovely view of the ocean. However, the men's was a completely different case. I've been in some grimey bathrooms, but this was just foul. I wouldn't wish my worst enemy to go in there. The air was disgusting, smelt like piss, mold and more piss. There were flies absolutely everywhere, definitely breeding in those toilets. I would watch your footing in the bathroom on the way out, the steps were steeped in what I assume is condesated pee, made it very slippery, as well as disgusting. If you're a man and you need a poo, I'd recommend the pier before those toilets.

Overall, a great visit that could've been better, but could've been much worse ofcourse! I would definitely recommend if you are trying to burn an hour or less....