Clacton

Monday

Flora Watkins

The joy of England’s ungentrified beaches

From our UK edition

One of the benefits of living nearly a hundred miles from a motorway is being within 20 minutes of some of the country's best beaches. This has been a godsend during this Summer of the Five Suns. There’s no queuing on the A11 for us, behind what one of my old Norfolk friends calls ‘absolute SCUM coming down here with their caravans’. We just chuck paddleboards, towels and buckets and spades into the back of the knackered Land Rover and are in the water within half an hour. If George Orwell had written an essay about the perfect British beach, he would have had Cromer in mind But we don’t bother with the beaches that regularly top Condé Nast Traveller and Sunday Times polls.

Wednesday

James Heale

‘He’s either the Messiah – or the Antichrist’: on the campaign trail with Nigel Farage

‘We love you, Nigel!’ In Clacton-on-Sea, there is little sign that the Reform leader’s star has waned. Campaigning with Farage here is a burst of cackles, quips, nicotine and selfies: a march through sun-kissed streets with a cast of canvassers, aides and minders. A child clasping a teddy bear dances around, Reform’s rosette pinned to her top; a groaning assistant clutches two dozen poster boards. On the doors in Seawick, there is near-universal support, with variations on the theme which Farage has made his campaign slogan: ‘I’m with Nigel.’ In the middle of silly season, Clacton is hosting one of Britain’s most bizarre by-elections.

Thursday

Simon Heffer

What do we think of when we think of Essex?

From our UK edition

Apparently much of the notoriety – or perhaps by now it has become allure – of Essex is my fault. In 1990, weeks before Mrs Thatcher was defenestrated, I wrote an article in the Sunday Telegraph called ‘Essex Man’, in circumstances that Tim Burrows describes entirely accurately in this exceptionally well-written and intelligent book. Although the Iron Lady was about to be history, the part of England that had come to exemplify her achievement and her legacy was throbbing with capitalist energy more than ever – which motivated the profile of Essex Man and his hard work and ability to seize opportunities in a society where native ability counted for more than class.