'We live in town cut off from world twice a day - it's like a step back in time'

16 June 2023 , 20:14

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The isolated Essex island that residents say feels like you've gone back in time - in a good way (Image: Anna Willis)

Locals on an isolated Essex island have said they "love being cut off" as it means they have a "strong community".

One resident of Mersea Island, which is connected to Colchester through the Strood said the town was like "going back in time".

The Strood is a single road that connects the island to the rest of Essex and sits almost parallel to the water at high tide.

It will often flood during high tides, cutting the island off from the rest of civilisation for two hours every day.

But it has created an incredibly strong community on Mersea Island which is home to the town of West Mersea and there are a variety of restaurants, cafes and other shops on its high street.

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Local residents say they "love" being cut off (Anna Willis)

Debbie Moore, 61, centre administrator at the Mersea Island Centre, said: "It's like going back in time to how the world was 40 years ago when everybody knew their neighbours and people would say good morning, good evening in the street."

She added: "It takes me back to the days when everyone had time for each other."

Many of the town's institutions have even remained the same for more than 25 years, reports EssexLive.

Linda Sterry, 75, has been living on Mersea Island for 25 years, and said the doctor's surgery and the primary school have stayed the same for the entire time she's lived on the island.

Debbie said: "It's a real community. Everyone looks out for one another. No one needs to be on their own."

Some of the shops still close for a half day on Wednesdays, or close for lunch, Debbie said. Some also won't open on Sundays, just as used to be the norm before the high street shopping boom. There's plenty going on though, from Mersea Week in August through to events put on at the community centre every day.

The island has a thriving community (Anna Willis)

But there are changes happening on the island - most notably an increase in houses being built.

Linda said: "I didn't think Mersea could be changed that much because it was quite small. But it is being built on a lot more."

Linda claims this is already causing infrastructure problems across the island.

"If you have a lot of rain we end up being flooded, and in the summer we have twice as many people because of the campers," she said.

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The houses that are being built are also very expensive, and are being built on greenfield sites, Linda said, which hasn't been popular with residents.

Tim Gannon, 50, manager at the Mersea community centre MICA, agreed, saying the biggest issue for residents is the number of new buildings going up in the area.

He said: "It's upsetting a lot of the locals because we've got one school, one doctor's surgery, they're not big schools, not big doctors."

Meanwhile, many of the residents had no problem with being cut off at high tide and saw advantages.

Locals said it is like stepping back in time (Anna Willis)

Debbie said: "We love it. Because for that time, we're completely cut off."

There has been discussions about a bridge over the Strood for years, but locals are vehemently opposed.

Tim said: "We don't need to change and people don't want the change either. They want to keep it how it always has been."

Everyone on the island is given a free tide timetable, and both Debbie and Tim said it's only ever outsiders who get caught, never locals. Debbie said: "I was worried when I first moved here, say we needed an ambulance or there was a fire. It's all organised."

The air ambulance will be sent if the road is flooded, and there's a fire station on the island.

But crime is getting worse on the island Linda believes and there's no longer a police station on Mersea Island. "There was a time when we didn't see a policeman on the island at all," she said.

And it is also around a 20 minute drive from Colchester to West Mersea, so by the time an incident has happened, it can often be too late. There is now a dedicated officer on the island who patrols the town.

Anna Willis