SWC 158 Ingatestone to Battlesbridge in Reverse!
(i.e.: map-led or follow the leader...)
Length:
24.8 km (15.4 mi)
Ascent/Descent:
228/180m
Net
Walking Time: ca. 5 ½ hours
Toughness:
4 out
of 10
Take
the 09.22 Wickford train from Liverpool Street (calls Stratford 09.29, Shenfield for Crossrail 09.47), change
at Wickford (10.01/10.06) onto the Southminster
service, arrives Battlesbridge at 10.10.
Return
trains: xx.05 (31 minutes journey time).
Upon
checking this walk a few weeks back, I belatedly realised that it works very well in
reverse, as Stock has five different lunch options AND Stock
Tower Mill has regular Open Afternoons during the summer. So, my plan
is to do lunch and then go back to the mill for a visit (open 14.00-17.00),
then recommence the walk.
Walk
Description in the normal direction:
This
rewarding Essex walk avoids major roads and all remnants of industry and
suburbia to initially traverse through fields in the Wid Valley and follow the
Wid itself for a while, while passing through the Fristling Hall estate, one of
the largest – but quite scenic – cattle farms in the country (with sturdy black
metal fences separating humans from beasts), before proceeding through a
delightful wood to lunch in Stock.
From there, several tree-lined tracks are walked along and some charming woods
(some of them good bluebell woods) and the Hanningfield Reservoir Nature
Discovery Centre with its Nature Reserve are passed through, before a late
lunch/early tea stop in South Hanningfield is reached.From there the route descends through some fields-with-views and more woods
into the Crouch Valley to the finish in Battlesbridge, on a good day with fine
far vistas beyond the Thames Valley to the North Downs.
Notes:
In high summer, the fenced paths through the Fristling Hall Estate and some
others towards the end of the walk can be encroached by nettles and brambles.
After rain, the 1.2 kilometres of arable field crossings near the end (along
clear paths) will be challenging.
I
am planning to bring secateurs for the stretch where brambles are hanging into the
footpath!
Walk
Options:
Alternative Start: start in Wickford, i.e.: follow the start of
SWC Walk 157 Wickford to Battlesbridge, to Crowsheath Community Woodland and
pick up the route there: 18.8 km (11.7 mi) with 116m ascent (2/10).
Bus Line 300 (Chelmsford – Basildon) goes from the lunch location Stock
to Billericay Station (every 30 mins Sun).
Afternoon
Shortcut
(cuts 3.5 km): avoids the fenced paths along the Wid River and the tracks
through the Fristling Hall estate to descend along a choice of two routes from
Stock (one using tracks and lanes, the other field boundaries and a field
crossing).
Lunch:
Plenty of options, early in South
Hanningfield (7 km into the walk), at the Hanningfield Reservoir Nature
Reserve and in Stock (15-16 km into the walk). See webpage or pdf for details.
3 comments:
Now I might do the Walk on Sunday. But I can't Guarantee I will. But what I am a little bit confused with. It says from Ingatestone to Battlesbridge. But it says from you have to change Trains from Wickford to Battlesbridge. But do you mean we take the Train from Ingatestone on the way back?
Hi Marc, long time no see...
Yes, the plan is to walk the route the other way round, if you like. So, start in Battlesbridge and finish in Ingatestone. That way we can visit the windmill which only opens at 2 pm.
3 of the faster type of SWC walkers bumped into each other on the train out, and that was all that was getting off at the other end of the journey in Battlesbridge as well. On we went, with all the early arable fields having already been ploughed after harvest, but with the ultra-dry ground it didn't really matter, obvious path or not. The following feared mega-overgrown section was no more: works were just finishing to rip out the hedges and trees, possibly preparing that field for something to be built on (the landowner seems to be the horse farm next door). We then followed mostly shady tracks or shady woods to The Old Windmill pub in South Hanningfield, where we witnessed a veritable army of vintage Triumph cars departing the car park, quite a sight (and smell).
On through the Hanningfield Reservoir Nature Reserve (a lovely wood with views of the water) and at the far end of that a welcome break for us for some hot drinks and bird watching in their cafe/shop.
On along the reservoir shore, where we saw a couple of birds that we thought looked and sounded like plovers (but little do we know), through and along more shady woods and tracks and along a couple of quiet lanes ogling at some rather massive Essex mansions, we eventually reached The Harvard Inn in Stock at 13.45, where walker 4 was waiting, having taken the bus from Billericay.
The weather had been warm to hot, but surprisingly (to me) it didn't feel anywhere near as hot as yesterday, despite us not getting much of a breeze in this essentially flat-ish land. But now we had a table in the garden, in the shade and with a breeze! Life was good, as were food, drink and company.
We convinced the one reluctant walker to join us on walking back for 5 minutes to the windmill for a visit, and what a good decision that was: we got a very detailed and interesting guided tour up the four floors, with the mechanism explained etc. Well worth the time.
On then for the final 9 km, but for walker 4 it wasn't to be. Knee trouble caused an early abandonment of the rest of the walk and a walk back to the bus stop.
One more interesting wood and then that large cattle farm awaited, basically a whole valley taken over for free-range cattle to roam around at will between fields, with the Wid River providing for water, but with footpaths separated by sturdy metal fencing (kilometres of it). We liked it. We also saw some herons on that stretch and a buzzard.
A heavy breeze came up from nowhere and some rather dark clouds moved in, but rain it didn't. We arrived at Ingatestone station midway between the hourly trains, so the "shall we walk on to the pubs and have a half-rushed pint" question was answered in the negative (after some deliberations, admittedly). 18.05 train
n=4 w=sunny-and-hot-then-milder-and-with-cloud-cover
p.s.: the secateurs were with me but did not get used at all, as apart from 'that' hedge having been razed, the brambles and nettles in other places seemed to have lost their lustre in the hot and dry weeks we've had recently
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