Osea Leisure Park

Boating, botany and birdwatching…the Blackwater Estuary is the biggest estuary in Essex and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and National Nature Reserve with all sorts of habitats such as mudflats, saltmarsh, grazing marsh and reedbeds. The Old Hall Marshes part of the estuary, managed by the RSPB, is one of the sites to see feathered friends – around 4000 Brent geese gaggle here in winter – and you might also spot a few rare breeds of other flying things like the emerald damselfly. The estuary’s Tollesbury Flats are stuffed with native Essex oysters; oysters have been harvested here for around a thousand years and Anglo-Saxon oyster traps have been found in the flats. Oystercatchers flit around here accordingly, and both the Tollesbury Flats and the other main Blackwater area, the Salcott Flats, have several other species fluttering around, like migrating birds in winter, birds of prey and other waders such as redshank and curlew. Moving onto the water, the Blackwater Estuary, Blackwater River and surrounds have boating and sailing clubs, boat trips, sea fishing trips from West Mersea and seal-spotting around Mersea Island – or go on your own feets to Mersea and Northey Islands, one of Essex’s six tidal islands walkable to when the tide is out. The ancient town of Maldon is about a mile from Osea Leisure Park: mosey around here to Hythe Quay and see its traditional Thames barges or hop on one for a river cruise to Osea Island with a cream tea along the way. Battle and history enthusiasts have the sites of the Battle of Maldon (old) and Maldon Museum (less old) to delve into; Beeleigh Abbey and its gardens, and the Combined Military Museum on Station Road – fountain pen gun, Bond? If you’d like to taste those famed Essex oysters (yes of course), buy some on weekends and bank holidays at the seafood bar in Maldon’s Promenade Park – and if you’re in town in spring, you're obviously going to take part in the Maldon Mud Race? Squelch. Within 15 miles of Osea, everything from heritage railways (Mangapps Railway Museum) to Essex jam (Tiptree Farm) to regional wine (New Hall Vineyard; one of the oldest in the country) is to hand, along with south Essex towns like Leigh and Southend-on-Sea. Make time for at least a day in Colchester: the kids will want hours to see the 270+ species and chuff around the Lost Madagascar Express road train at Colchester Zoo, while adults can check out the cathedral and Colchester Castle and its museum, covering 2000 years of British history.