Lower Wyburns Farm, Rayleigh, Essex

At last the weather forecast was spot on and we enjoyed temperatures of 26 degrees here in this part of Essex, such summery conditions to cause us to don shorts and sandals later in the day. We planned to see bits here and there, scattered all about the area, and ended up with alternatives to our original schedule.

We set off soon after 9am to Hadleigh Castle, not more than five miles directly south of our camp. The initial signs were clear but once we arrived at the end of a narrow lane, we were at a loss as to see where these English Heritage administered ruins were to be found. Another car arrived and I consulted the driver who agreed the signage was appalling and sent us in the right direction; she and her wee girl were returning to one of their favourite morning walking spots.

The Castle ruins lie high above the River Thames and on the edge of the Hadleigh Country Park and Salvation Army working farm. The Army’s founder, William Booth, purchased Hadleigh Castle and its surrounding site in 1881, to establish a farm to train the English poor prior to them being sent overseas to the British colonies. The Army gave the castle to the Ministry of Works in 1948, who in turn passed it on to English Heritage.

But the castle had an earlier genesis; in 1215 King John gave the area, known as the manor of Hadleigh, along with many other gifts, to Hubert de Burgh, his chief minister and justiciar, and earl of Kent.  In the 1230s Hubert spent great sums of money building the large turreted Hadleigh Castle, a statement of power, but he was unable to enjoy his new castle for long. By 1239 he had fallen out of favour with the young Henry III, and was forced to return his lands to the Crown.

The castle remained in royal hands, but it was not until the time of Edward II, nearly one hundred years later, that kings began to use the castle as a royal residence. Edward III was the first king to see the strategic importance of Hadleigh Castle, ideally situated as a base for defending the Thames Estuary against the French raids during the Hundred Years War.

Edward III’s successors took little interest in the castle as a residence. After being leased to a succession of tenants, the castle was sold to Lord Riche in 1551, who sold it off as building materials. During the demolition, a tiled hearth was built into the floor of the hall, to melt down the valuable window leads.

Today we wandered about in the sunshine enjoying the site rather than the ruins; from here we watched trains speed to and from London and Southend-on-Sea, massive cargo vessels plying the River Thames, and a maze of jet trails giving evidence to the number of flights across the Channel.

Our next stop was to be the Marshlands Farm Country Park, which turned out to be a fizzer. This is situated on the north side of the River Crouch, accessed via the road we had taken toward Chelmsford, then turning eastwards to South Woodham Ferrers. 

Publicity explains this to be three hundred acres of grazing marsh, providing a great place for coastal walks and superb river views. The signage took us into a large car park with no public access to anywhere but a farm park suitable for tiny tots. We spent some time trying to find our way to walks and wonders, without success, gave up and set off for a default destination which turned out to be so much better.

I had spotted an entry in our National Trust handbook for Danbury Commons and Blake’s Wood, with little description, but it certainly looked more promising than the Country Park, even only by virtue of being a National Trust property.

Here we discovered seventy hectares of heathland covered in bracken and gorse scrub, surrounded in woodland with oak and birch. The bluebells, for which the park is renowned, were at an end, but the spring fauna was in abundance. We heard and saw cuckoos, dozens of scampering squirrels and rabbits. We spent nearly two hours wandering through the woods and across the open common, walking in circles and loops, some deliberate and more because we were lost. Fortunately we had eaten some of our lunch for morning tea, and emptied half of our thermos, having managed the leftover pizza slices without damage to the teeth, hence we were not too upset to return to the car late for lunch. 

Danbury was not too far off the route to Maldon, so it was a simple matter of continuing on to the old river port, now a tourist resort more than anything. Maldon sits on the Blackwater Estuary and is the starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation, part of which we walked just yesterday. These days it has an official population of just over 14,000 but I suspect that even today, some days away from the holiday weekend, the population had doubled.

We parked at Promenade Park, a large area with room for extras in the season, and plenty of parking metres ready to serve. The park was opened in 1895, and supports large play areas, a lake that was once part of the River Blackwater and formal gardens, shelters and avenues of lime and horse chestnut trees in the Edwardian manner.

From here one can walk upstream along the river bank, passed moorings for many wonderful old Thames Barges, decorative with their furled bronze coloured sails and available for hire when the tide rises to cover the muddy river bottom.  These are the last of over 5,000 barges that worked the east coast, their numbers peaking in 1860. The last commercial barges earned their passage in freight in the early 1960s, but some of these tied up to the wharf here today date back over a hundred years. The Dawn, the first barge built in the Cooks boat yard, now looking a little worse for wear, was launched in 1897.

The wharves have a wonderful charm, even with many of the old warehouses standing in terrible states of repair in contrast to an equal number of very smart riverside apartments and houses. We took time to observe a little family of swans beside the lake, the signets just so cute and the adults so protective.

I had done a little homework regarding a possible visit to Maldon, and reported to The Chauffeur that most of the attractions had hefty price tags; the museums and the Moot Hall, and anything else I had thought might be interesting. Given that we like to enjoy free attractions wherever possible, this had not boded well, however we did enjoy our couple of hours along the river front and the Hyde enormously and it only cost us parking and a soft serve ice-cream each.

Since arriving home, we have plotted our exit from Rayleigh, a route with less obstacles than that on entry, and our route across the county into Hertfordshire tomorrow. The weather report for the days ahead remains positive, and I would say that all is very well here in this corner of the world, although that would be sticking my head in the sand as regards the very recent terrorist bombing in Manchester. On that note I have sent communications to my mother who worries about such matters; from afar an event in one city seems to endanger the whole country.