The Dunkirk Little Ship Vanguard, on the Burnham Bends on its journey home, 26 January 2018. © Nick Skeens.

Burnham is noted for the ten right-angle bends that often take visitors by surprise as they approach from Althorne.

Popular with motorbikes, they run for 1.34 miles (2.16km), a distance shorter than they can seem.

The Burnham Bends can, of course, be dangerous, especially in slippy weather.


Avoiding the bends

This is decompression advice for drivers, not divers…

After a long journey, a series of right-angle bends can prove an irritant for some drivers.

As, indeed, can being stuck behind a slow-moving lorry.

The Burnham Bends can be avoided by opting for the Endway / Tinker’s Hole route.

At 1.48 miles (2.38km), the route is a little longer, but it can prove quicker and is generally thought prettier.

If you are approaching from Althorne, take the turn-off for the Endway just after the Three Horseshoes Pub.

Just shy of a mile later, you turn right into Tinker’s Hole.

Your next obstacle is the left-right chicane, known locally as Hellfire Corner because of the frequency with which ‘tired and emotional drivers’ misjudge its angles and land up in one of the adjacent ditches or fields.

There follows a long (more or less) straight.

You’ll rejoin the main road just north of Elmwood Equestrian centre, with the last (left-hand) Burnham Bend ahead of you – watch out for the adverse camber.

See also Ghost Stories and Electoral Wards.