Treasure ISLANDS

MERSEA, ESSEX

Across a narrow channel from Essex’s southern coast, Mersea offers a seaswept dose of nature and traditional beach life. Here you’ll find Jurassic cliffs, sandy beaches, bleakly beautiful mudflats, pretty pastel beach huts, and even a vineyard. You can walk around the whole island, a popular 20km challenge, to admire the views and wildlife – look out for marsh harriers, water voles, red squirrels and numerous migrating seabirds. Mersea oysters make their way into the kitchens of everyone from Gordon Ramsay to The Ritz – but they taste their best eaten right here, in one of the oyster bars or beach shacks. Mersea is cut off from the