Welcome to Foulness Island. The name is unfortunate. It either meant 'muddy headland' or possibly 'bird headland'
a few centuries ago. It's about nine square miles, there's around 150 people who live on it. But unless you are one of those people
or you've got business with them, you will not be allowed in. Most of the island and, importantly, the road and bridge that get you onto it: they're owned by the British military
and they will turn you away. But despite having no business here, I am on the island, legally. And that's because I didn't
use the road and bridge. I walked along a very
different path to get here. The Broomway has been called the most dangerous, most
deadly path in Britain. It goes back at least 600 years. And the only reason that
I walked here safely is because I had a guide. A few miles back before we set off,
I asked him a few questions. - Historically, there is reportedly
60-100 casualties on the Broomway. The main thing is the tide.
It whips round from the North Sea and would come from, not as you expect,
straight on from the horizon, but it'll often spiral in to the coastline,
and so it'll cut you off from your pathway. It's very easy to get
lost out on the Broomway, particularly in low-visibility
conditions when it's raining or there's low fog,
early morning, late at night. As there's no features or markers
to take your bearing from, you can get very quickly disorientated. Quite often, people will
naturally walk further out to sea, as opposed to back to land. The Broomway's only open at
the weekends for the public. The MOD use this as an
active firing range, and they have done since the late 1800s. And so, one thing that we might
see out there is leftover ordnance. They do a pretty good job of
cleaning up after themselves, but it doesn't mean that
we won't see any out there. I've seen shells this big. You just have to really
keep your distance. Shell craters are also a problem because of the exploded ordnance
that has gone off, so it's essentially quick sand. And so, there'll be pockets of sand
which are really soft and mushy that your feet will sink into
that we have to be careful of. I only guide walks when the
tide is constantly going out. So, we are three hours after high tide. The tide is still on its way out, and we should be coming back
here as the tides are turning. - So, obviously, we made it.
Thank you, Tom! The path's called the Broomway because back before the
military built that bridge, back when it was the only
access onto this island, it was marked by "brooms"
every 30 metres or so. Now, to 21st-century people, that implies broom handles
sticking out the ground. But, no, I tracked down a photo from 1922, and the brooms were just
short lumps of brush. But over the last century,
those brooms stopped being maintained. They were either swept away or eroded, and now the path is unmarked.
But it's still on the map. It's still a legal path. Permanently closing a right-of-way
in Britain is difficult. - On Foulness, there are public right-of-way
footpaths that we can access. They are rarely used.
And so, if you do take them, the security switchboards will light up because you'll get reported by MOD staff
or by locals who live there because they think you're trespassing. I wouldn't be guiding this if I wasn't
a qualified mountain leader who has map and compass skills, good experience of this
guided walk that I do. I have first aid qualifications,
so I know how to deal with and treat the likely emergencies
that could happen out here. - That article from 1922 also named some of the
people who died on the path. Several doctors travelling
to attend patients, young women trying to reach partners,
and island residents who got careless, or who would sometimes stay
in the mainland pubs too late and then try to race the tide
back on a galloping horse. Because the part of the Broomway we walked
isn't just a footpath. Under modern law, it is a
"byway open to all traffic", which means that, in theory,
you can take a horse or a tractor or anything
that's road legal onto it. It would be a very, very bad idea
to just drive onto the sands, but in theory you could,
if you didn't get bogged down. Now, a few times a year,
the village on the island and the main road are open for tourism, but not right now, not in 2020, which means that right
now there is only one way for the average person to
get onto Foulness Island. But there are two ways to leave. We could go off the rights of way,
trespass onto military land, and then very soon after get
escorted off by soldiers, assuming we weren't arrested. Or... we can just walk back. Ready when you are!
- Let's go! - Thank you very much to Tom Bennett! He's a qualified mountain leader
who runs tours across Britain. I'll put a link to his website
in the description. It feels really weird talking about you in the third person
when you're just there. [both laughing]
- Yeah. [water sloshing] - Ugh!
This field.
Fully thought Newham would make an appearance...
This is no ordinary path. This. Is. The most dangerous path. In Britain.
I'm not sure I'd trust a mountain leader to walk me out to sea. Just seems like two very different places
Dumb question: Why not mark the safe path? It was done before. With modern technology you could make the markers semi-permanent and just have to double check them every so often.
Every tom Scott video is the same
https://youtu.be/b-IEVMwBEfo
It's interesting for sure but it just all kind of blends in
This reminds me of that creepy HBO show, The Third Day (British island that only had one road leading to it).
Gorgeous
Difficult way but nice places