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This Week's Walks - Archive

Please see the Saturday Walker's Club This Week's Walks page.

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

Sunday 31 July 2016

Sunday walk 2 South Woodham Ferrers Circular/ SWF to North Fambridge

South Woodham Ferrers Circular / SWF to North Fambridge 
SWC walk 159

The circular version of this walk is 11.9 miles 19.2 km Difficulty 4/10
The full walk to North Fambridge is either 14.1 or 15.9 miles (22.7 or 25.5 km) depending on how full you want to make it. Difficulty 5/10.
Real hardnuts (and by that, I mean the macadamia - hardest of all the nuts) could even extend it to 17.8 miles 28.6km.
This varied and (for Essex) fairly hilly walk offers splendid views of the Crouch Valley. It winds its way out of South Woodham Ferrers through fields, over rolling hills, past an RHS Garden, an overgrown cemetery and more fields to lunch. On return, near SWF you can choose whether to end there or go further.
The circular option seems more more appropriate for Sunday, lengthwise. However there are compelling reasons for pushing on to North Fambridge. One is the CAMRA-award-winning Prince of Wales en route. Another is the serene finish, along the tidal River Crouch and through the salt marshes of a Nature Reserve.

Trains Get the 10:14 Southend train from Liverpool St (Stratford 10:21) changing at Wickford to a Southminster train (arr 11:03 dep 11:06), arriving South Woodham Ferrers  at 11:14. The connection at Wickford is tight and hourly so, if you're early enough, you might prefer to get the 9:44 as far as Wickford.
Trains return from South Woodham Ferrers at xx:26, changing at Wickford. Again, you have only 3 mins  to get the xx:40 on Platform 3 so don’t hang about (connections are half-hourly this direction).
Trains return from North Fambridge at xx:21, also changing at Wickford.
Get a return to South Woodham Ferrers for the circular or North Fambridge for the longer. A return to North Fambridge (the further station) is only slightly more and would cover both endings.

Lunch: The Folly Bistro in East Hanningfield 01245 400 315 Formerly the "Windmill Tavern". (More pub than bistro last time we visited)

Tea places in South Woodham Ferrers:
Shaw Farm Old Wickford Road, South Woodham Ferrers, 01245 320916,  Ex farm building with rose gardens, huge back garden and lake. Has recently changed hands.
The Whalebone Inn/Scrimshaw’s Restaurant Old Wickford Road, 01245 320231,
The Railway, Hullbridge Road, South Woodham Ferrers, 01245 320262
Tea Places for N Fambridge
The Prince of Wales, Stow Maries, 01621 828 971 An early stop, renowned for its beer.
The Ferry Boat Inn, Ferry Road, North Fambridge, 01621 740208,  A 500 year old riverside pub.

Directions here
T=swc.159

1 comment:

PeteB said...

Just me so n=1 on this walk! Weather w=fine-and-dry-and-fairly-warm. Bitter experience has taught me what sort of state Essex paths can be in when its high summer. (Basically when you see a right of way bisecting fields there is a good chance it will be overgrown.) I therefore decided to improvise my own walk to North Fambridge cutting out much of the endless fields to the west and having a sandwich lunch on a bench in a lovely churchyard with fine views and then a drink at a nearby pub in Woodham Ferrers. (I don't think it did food.)
I then crossed fields on ahem public rights of way although the last time any member of the public did them was probably in the late Jurassic period!) before picking up the walk route to North Fambridge and a cuppa at the Ferry Boat. All in all I did just over 16km and the highlight was coming across a beautiful peacock butterfly on a path. I tried to take a photo but it closed its wings and then flew off......