It is considered one of the most treacherous paths in Britain, a medieval route that is said to have caused dozens of deaths over hundreds of years.
And in 2026, it proved to be too much for an Amazon van.
One of the company’s delivery vehicles became stranded on Sunday after the driver mistakenly steered onto the Broomway, a six-mile walking path in Essex, in southeast England. The driver was following GPS directions to get to Foulness Island, a restricted military testing area, from the mainland.
The HM Coastguard Southend said in a statement that it received a call on Sunday morning about “an Amazon delivery van that had driven onto the Broomway.” Amazon was made aware of the incident, the statement said, and the company “arranged recovery of the vehicle.”
A photograph of the scene posted to social media by the HM Coastguard showed a gray Amazon Prime van parked in the mud flats. The driver was able to exit the vehicle, the statement said.
Amazon declined to comment on the specifics of the incident, but said, “Thankfully driver is safe, van retrieved and we are investigating.” The company arranged for a nearby farmer to remove the van, the HM Coastguard said.
The Broomway’s name comes from the hundreds of brooms that once marked its path. Edwardian newspapers gave it a more sinister nickname: The Doomway.
It has been described as a disorienting place where sea fog and quicksand can make it feel as if the earth has merged with the sea. Access to the path is available only during low tide. Venture onto the path at the wrong time, and rapidly rising tides can quickly become overwhelming.
More than 100 people are thought to have died on the Broomway, according to the BBC, and it is now only partially open to the public.
“It is still a public road, so it’s classed as a byway, which means you can drive a road-legal vehicle on it, legally. But it’s highly not recommended,” said Kev Brown, who leads walking tours of the path through his company, Thames Estuary Man. “It’s not a place to go if you don’t know where you’re going.”
Today, aspiring walkers are advised to travel the Broomway with a local guide who understands the fickle tides and can offer safe passage across the sand and mud flats to the farmland on Foulness Island. The Broomway was once the only path by which services could reach the island.
Among its more regular travelers were postmen, who presumably did not rely on GPS.
Ali Watkins covers international news for The Times and is based in Belfast.
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