North Fambridge

This is the Yacht station at North Famborough. It boasts an impressive collection of Dutch Barges, the only marina showers I know with underfloor heating and a very interesting yacht club.   

If like me you think that flat pack was invented by Ikea, think again. The above yacht club building was actually designed by our own Isambard Kingdom Brunel as a hospital building to be shipped complete to the Crimea, at the request of Florence Nightingale no less. The hospital was built but this particular unit ended up in the river Crouch, initially being used as storage and then acquired by the North Fambridge Yacht Club when they outgrew their previous accomodation before the first world war. It still looks in surprisingly good shape for a building constucted in the1850s   

This quaint Inn lies conveniently between the (visitors) yacht station and the yacht haven itself. We spent today out and about exploring the local area (and wondering what salt marshes are for, if anything). We caught a train to South Woodham Ferris to do some shopping and then sailed back down the Crouch and up the River Roach, where we are now anchored for the night.