Saturday Walkers' Club

Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1

Walk 46 : Wakes Colne to Bures

The Colne valley

Length 18 km (11.2 miles), 5 hours 30 minutes. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow at least 9 hours 30 minutes
OS Landranger Map No.168. Chappel & Wakes Colne Station, map reference TL 897 288, is in Essex, 11 km north-west of Colchester and 5km south of Bures.
OS Explorer Map No.195 and 196
Toughness 5 out of 10
Features Many walkers associate Essex with flat landscapes, surly pubs and badly maintained footpaths. This walk suffers only from this last failing – in summer, one 400 metre stretch near the end (just past point [8]) can be invaded by almost head-high nettles or vegetation, so wear long trousers and take a walking pole and compass if possible. Other paths on this walk can also be overgrown in high summer. For the rest, the walk is delightful. Since the last edition of the TO Book there have been some path diversions and a new route is now recommended between Chalkney Wood and Earls Colne. Chappel & Wakes Colne, the station where the walk starts, is a railway museum on every side, with old carriages on display. The village and church at Chappel are a foretaste of the lovely architecture to come, along the Colne Valley, such as fine thatched barns and cottages and the neo-Tudor mansion of Colne Priory. The lunch pub at Colne Engaine is just past the church, and then the route follows the side of a fishing lake (not marked on old OS maps, as it was only created in 1995). Brooks, farms, woods and undulating hills lead into tea at one of the pubs in Bures.
Shortening the Walk It is a short walk after Lunch down to the main road (the A604), where there are hourly buses going via Wakes Colne viaduct, which is just down the road from the station at which you began the walk.
Lengthening the walk For the fit who like walking “long”, try adding on Book 1 Walk 8 – Bures to Sudbury – (shortened version, by-passing Bulmer Tye) to the end of this walk, making an overall walk of some 20 miles. This makes for an excellent long walk.
History

'Colne' is an old English word meaning 'roaring river', and thus there are Colne (or Calne) rivers in various parts of the country.

The station at Chappel & Wakes Colne forms the East Anglian Railway Museum (tel. 01206-242524). It is open daily from 10 am to 4-30 pm (or dusk if earlier). Adults: £ 3-50 on non-event days; diesel days £ 5-00; steam days £ 7-00; other event days £ 7-00 to £ 10-00. Children: £ 2-00; £ 3-00; £ 3-50 and £4-00 to £ 6-00. Family tickets: £ 9-00; £ 13-00; £ 17-50 and £ 20-00 to £ 28-00 (depending on the event). You get to see a lot of it just coming off the train. There is also a bookshop selling everything for railway enthusiasts.

The impressive Chappel Viaduct, adjacent to the station, is the longest in East Anglia, with 7 million bricks and 75 feet high. It opened in 1846.

The small church in Chappel dates from 1352, although it may incorporate earlier Norman work. In the fourteenth century, the local bishop granted indulgences - remissions of punishment for sins - to all who contributed to the church's repair. It has a tiny wooden steeple and is constructed of stone in the Early English style, with walls of flint rubble and dressings of cement and local materials.

Margery Allingham, the crime novelist, lived in the Chappel area.

Colne Priory in Earls Colne was rebuilt with its high neo-Tudor chimneys by the enterprising local vicar in the 1940s.

The sarsen stones in the tower of St Andrew's Church in Colne Engaine are sandstone boulders brought down by ice in the glacial period, and were probably previously used as ritual marker stones in a Stone Age temple on the site. Some of the other building material came from a Roman villa nearby. The church dates back to the early twelfth century and the reign of Henry I.

Saturday Walkers Club

Take the train nearest to 9-15 am from London Liverpool Street Station to Chappel & Wakes Colne, changing at Marks Tey, journey time 1hr 10 minutes. Trains back from Bures run about once an hour, again changing at Marks Tey. Note that the Marks Tey to Sudbury branch line does not always operate on Sundays in the depths of winter: check the National Rail website for operating times.

Rail ticket: buy a day return to Bures (pronounced “Bewers”).
Lunch

The suggested lunchtime stop is the Five Bells pub (tel. 01787-224166) in Colne Engaine. Food is served daily between 12 noon and 2-30 pm. There is a good selection of cooked meals and snacks. Walkers are made welcome. The pub has informal eating areas, a separate restaurant area and a pub garden.

Walkers should aim to leave the pub by latest 2pm in winter to avoid walking in the dark

Please note the Carved Angel pub in Earls Colne, a former earlier lunch option, closed as a pub some years ago and has since had a number of uses such as a banqueting hall. As of July 2008 it was closed and up for sale.
Tea

You have two options for tea in Bures. The first is the Swan Inn (tel. 01787-228121), a Greene King pub, open in the afternoon for tea, coffee and alcoholic drinks, with food served Tuesday to Saturday 12 noon to 2-30 pm and from 6-30 pm to 9pm, and on Sundays from 12 noon to 6 pm. Around the corner in Colchester Street is your second option, the Eight Bells pub (tel. 01787-227354), a Free House, open Monday to Fridays 11-30 am to 3 pm then 6 pm to 11 pm, Saturday and Sunday open all day for drinks (11-30 am to 11 pm), serving food from 12 noon to 2 pm and from 7 pm to 9-30 pm.

Both pubs have beer gardens.
Travel by Train
  • Out: (not a train station)
  • Back: (not a train station)
Travel by Car

Start: Chappel and Wakes Colne Station is near : CO6 2DS [gmap]

Finish: Bures Station is near : CO8 5DQ [gmap]

Return to your car by train:

  • (park at the start) at 4pm
  • (park at the end) at 10am
OS Explorer Map

195 : Braintree & Saffron Walden [Amazon]

196 : Sudbury, Hadleigh & Dedham Vale [Amazon]
Revised

This walk was fully revised in : Aug-08.

Download the PDF (link above) for the revised instructions, but for the map, you'll still need the book.
Other Suffolk Walks Bures to Sudbury, Wivenhoe (round walk), Manningtree (round walk),

Walking Instructions 

[Numbers refer to the map]

  1. [1] After looking round the museum, exit Chappel & Wakes Colne Station via the booking hall (with adjacent book shop; if the booking hall is closed, or if you are not visiting the museum, follow the “Way Out” sign at the end of the platform). Walk down the approach road, as it bears right , and in 120 metres you come down to the road T-junction where you turn left, into Station Road , going downhill into the village, your direction 205 degrees.
  2. In 300 metres you come to a crossroads with the A1124 (formerly the A604 ) , with the railway viaduct on your left-hand side and the general store opposite. Cross straight over the main road into the village of Wakes Colne, on a road called The Street. In 30 metres cross the bridge over the River Colne and immediately beyond the bridge you pass the Swan Inn on the left-hand side.
  3. In 130 metres further on, at the end of the houses on the right-hand side, ignore a public footpath sign pointing off to the left towards the viaduct. Opposite the sign, turn right off the road, down the surfaced car-wide track alongside the half-timbered Raynham House, your direction due west .
  4. In 40 metres you pass the entrance to St Barnabas Chapel on the right-hand side. In 30 metres go through or pass to the left-hand side of a metal fieldgate. 75 metres further on, ignore a footbridge some 30 metres off to your right, going over the river. Continue straight on, and in 50 metres you come to a metal fieldgate, and cross the stile to its left-hand side, into a field. Continue straight on, along the left-hand edge of the field, your direction 250 degrees.
  5. In 170 metres go through a wooden kissing gate in the left-hand corner and turn right into the next field. Follow the path towards the far side of the field, in the same direction as before. In 75 metres you come to a footpath post (hidden in the hedge to your right) , indicating the continuation of the path straight ahead, with the hedge on your right-hand side. In 60 metres further on go through a wooden kissing gate at the far side of the field and go straight on in the next field on a wide grassy path with a wire fence to your left and a hedge on your right.
  6. In 200 metres go through a wooden kissing gate, cross a stony path and then a wooden bridge with a metal gate on its far side, and keep ahead, your direction 255 degrees. In 100 metres you come to the start of a lake on your right-hand side. In a further 120 metres you come to the far side of the field. Turn right through a metal gate down towards the lake and turn left down the path with the lake on your right-hand side. In 50 metres cross over a stream, and then a wooden bridge with metal gate on its far side into the next field. Follow the direction for the Colne Valley Path straight ahead along the left-hand edge of the field, with the trees now on your left-hand side.
  7. [2] In 200 metres the fence goes sharply left, following the tree line. On the corner there is a footpath post, and here you leave the Colne Valley Path and turn left through the metal gate on a way known as the Marjory Allingham Walk .
  8. Walk up the footpath going along the edge of the wood, your direction 220 degrees initially. In 120 metres the path bears right and then left, to continue on a bearing of 200 degrees. In 100 metres you pass a footpath post on your right. In 50 metres, by another footpath post on your left, bend with the path round to the right, your direction now 195 degrees, slightly uphill between trees, an open field beyond to your right-hand side. In 30 metres pass a footpath post on your right and keep ahead, uphill.
  9. [3] In 180 metres at a path crossing there is a footpath post with many arrows on your right-hand side. Turn right along the clear path going up and over the field, your direction 310 degrees initially. In 100 metres you come down to the edge of a small lake and you follow the footpath sign straight ahead, around the right-hand side of the lake. Past the far side of the lake, carry straight on towards the gate ahead, with fruit bushes on your left. In 90 metres pass through the metal gate into the next field. On your right-hand side, looking north, there is a fine view across the valley to a distant church spire. Your path continues straight ahead, down the field. 100 metres straight down the hill, go through a metal gate and then cross a wooden footbridge over a stream. Follow the footpath up the hill ahead, through the trees.
  10. In 100 metres you come out to a lane T-junction. Turn right down the lane, your direction 30 degrees. In 25 metres turn left off the road, following a public footpath sign next to a wooden fieldgate part hidden by bushes, along a path into the trees, your direction 295 degrees initially. In 80 metres you go through the remnants of a wooden fieldgate which has a sign on the gatepost welcoming walkers to Chalkney Wood. In 70 metres the path converges with a wider track, and you go straight ahead (slightly to the right), ignoring a way to the left, your direction 320 degrees initially.
  11. In 150 metres you pass a sign on the right-hand side of the track, which provides information about the management of the forest. In 80 metres ignore a fork right marked by a low post with a red band. In 20 metres further on, you come to a crossing of car-wide tracks. Take the right fork, gently downhill, your direction 340 degrees initially.
  12. In 250 metres you come down the hill towards a wooden fieldgate into a farmyard, with a white wooden farmhouse directly ahead. Immediately before this fieldgate, turn left to cross a partially collapsed platform bridge to take a path through the woods along the edge of the field. Follow this path as it winds through woodland and scrub for about 150 metres, until you reach the hedge at the far end of this field, by a path crossing with a low post with red band directly ahead. Turn right over a ditch, via some planks, and use the stile to climb into the next field and carry straight on, your direction 355 degrees, keeping the hedge on your right-hand side.
  13. In 100 metres, on reaching the far corner of the field, ignore the other path coming in from the right. Turn left here and continue along the right-hand edge of the field, your direction 250 degrees initially. In 170 metres you walk underneath an electricity pylon. 30 metres beyond the pylon, go through into the next field and continue straight on along its right-hand edge.
  14. In 60 metres you come to the far, right hand corner of this field, with a number of metal fieldgates and rusted gates ahead. There is no obvious way to the right, as the Book’s directions suggest, and the following directions take you on an alternative route to the one in the Book, between this point and the village of Earls Colne.
  15. The official exit from this right hand corner, per the farmer, is 30 metres to the left of this corner, along the field edge. Turn right over a stile, cross a three plank footbridge into a field, where you turn right for 30 metres, then left at a footpath post, with a wire fence on your right, your direction now 315 degrees. Proceed ahead along this fence but note later you need to be on its other side.
  16. In 125 metres you come to a footpath post on your right, with directions pointing left and ahead (with a kink right). Ignore this post, unless you wish to turn left across the field, direction 195 degrees, in 250 metres going over a stile to turn right down Tey Road, in 650 metres arriving at the former Carved Angel pub. But the recommended route is to keep ahead at this footpath post, and in a further 125 metres (and 25 metres before a metal field gate) turn right over a stile and bear left. In 25 metres go through a hotchpotch of gates and barriers, to turn left along the edge of the field ahead (you are now on the other side of the field edge, as required). Keep ahead along this field and head towards its left-hand corner.
  17. In 400 metres at this left-hand corner, go through a metal gate and proceed along a fenced-in path, your direction 335 degrees. In 100 metres come out onto a gravel drive, turn left for 15 metres to reach the main road, A1124 (formerly A604) and turn left.
  18. In 175 metres you reach a road junction with ahead the former Carved Angel pub, Earls Colne, long closed and most recently a banqueting hall, now up for sale. Here turn right over the A1124 with Colne Priory directly ahead of you. Follow the public footpath sign along the side of Colne Priory. Walk along the footpath with a metal railing fence on your right-hand side and a hedge on your left. Soon you can see the church of Earls Colne on your left-hand side. In 130 metres you ignore a path going off up the hill to your left. Continue straight on through the metal kissing gate ahead.
  19. In 120 metres you come out on to a golf course. The next section of the route takes you across this golf course (beware of flying golf balls), Walk straight ahead across the course towards the right of a large oak tree dead ahead, your direction 305 degrees.
  20. In 120 metres you pass the oak on your left and continue straight on towards a track, with the main golf course on your right. Keep ahead along this track and in 225 metres you pass under overhead cables. Bear left and gently uphill on the now grassy track and 250 metres further on, you ignore a wooden kissing gate and a concrete lane going off to the left.
  21. In 200 metres you bear right, with the edge of the golf course, not following the fork left with the edge of the houses, and come back onto the left hand edge of the course proper. Proceed along this boundary and in 150 metres further on, you come to a finger of hedgerow sticking out into the golf course, where you turn right and take a path that has come down from the road on the left, to go straight down the hill on a bearing due north towards and over the footbridge 300 metres away at the bottom. Take great care as you cross a number of fairways during the descent to the bridge.
  22. Once over this metal bridge and across the river, ignore the path which you can see going off through the trees when you look half left. Instead, turn sharp left along the riverbank towards the stile which you can see ahead, your direction 315 degrees initially.
  23. In 110 metres you cross the dilapidated stile. Going straight ahead under the metal barriers would be the simplest short cut (under the old dismantled railway bridge), but the official way is to go slightly right and up and over the dismantled railway line. Then go down again and over the next stile back to the riverbank on your left-hand side having negotiated an overgrown path. The old railway line is now managed as a nature reserve.
  24. In 80 metres ignore a track to the right and in a further 30 metres you pass a mini-weir, and in 120 metres beyond that ignore a left-hand fork going into a field , to bear right , and to the right of an oak tree, your direction 330 degrees. In 30 metres you go across a three plank bridge through the hedgerow to follow a wooded path before entering the next field. Continue straight on along the left-hand edge of this field, your direction 310 degrees. In a further 140 metres, the path crosses over into the next field and you follow the left-hand edge of this field, heading in the same direction as before.
  25. On your right-hand side, up the hill, you can now see the tower of St. Andrew’s Church in Colne Engaine. In 100 metres ignore a stile on your left-hand side, where the fence turns sharp left, to follow the clear path straight across the field, towards the right of a copse of trees dead ahead, aiming for the red house on the far side of the field, you direction 300 degrees . 150 meters further on, you come to the corner of the copse, and follow the path as it bears round to the left, along the edge of the wood.
  26. In 300 metres you come out on to a road at a T-junction. The road opposite is signposted to Buntings Green. Turn right up the road. (This is the official way, although there is a pleasanter, well-used local footpath that runs parallel to the road – to its right-hand side – and brings you to the church via a climb up a bank and through a football pitch.) But following the road uphill, ignoring ways off, you come into Church Street, following the sign for Pebmarsh and Bures. In 10 metres further on, you turn right off the road, through the entrance to St. Andrew’s Church, Colne Engaine.
  27. Walk straight through the churchyard, past the church entrance, and straight down the path on the far side, down to the road. To your right is the Five Bells pub, the suggested lunchtime stop.
  28. After lunch, come out of the pub and turn right. This is Mill Lane. In 80 metres you pass a turning on the left for Halstead and Earls Colne. Go straight on and in 60 metres you pass the village store and post office on your left-hand side. 20 metres beyond that, you come to the village green. Walk across the middle of the green and cross the road on the far side. Walk straight down the path ahead, between houses, your direction 15 degrees initially. The path is indicated by a concrete public footpath sign, which may be obscured by a bush.
  29. In 150 metres you come out into the corner of a large, flat field, and follow the clear path straight ahead along its right-hand edge. In 300 metres further on, the path curves to your right, down on to a road. Turn left along the road, in the same direction as before.
  30. In 270 metres there is a footpath post, hidden in bushes, 50 metres before a brick farmhouse. Turn right off the road, cross over a stile to the left of wooden fieldgates, and go straight across a fenced-in horse paddock with electrified fences towards the stile on the far side, your direction 90 degrees. In 60 metres go through a stile in a wooden fence into the next field and follow the wooden fence and horse training ground on your left-hand side. 65 metres further on, turn left over a stile in the corner of the field. Follow the path along the line of overhead cables, around the back of the farm buildings.
  31. In 40 metres turn right over the stile into the next field. Follow the path ahead along the right-hand side of the field, gently downwards, your direction 85 degrees.
  32. 400 metres downhill, you come to the bottom of the field and go across a concrete footbridge with metal railings across a stream. Go straight on through the trees, and 20 metres further on, you come out into a field next to a footpath post pointing to the left and right.
  33. [5] Turn left, following a path along the left-hand side of the field, as it goes up the hill beside trees. In 25 metres, around the edge of the field, there is another footpath post, part hidden in bushes. Turn left into the trees, your direction 340 degrees initially. In 340 metres, along a clear, winding path through the trees, occasionally clambering over fallen tree trunks, you come out into a large field. There is a wooden footpath post on your right-hand side, part hidden in undergrowth. Ignore the path to the right and follow the path ahead, along the left-hand side of the field, your direction 340 degrees initially.
  34. In 140 metres, ignore a footpath post to the left. In a further 20 metres bear left by another footpath post (part hidden) and cross a three plank bridge across a stream into the next field. Walk along the left-hand edge of this field, gently uphill. In 120 metres you come to the end of the trees on your left-hand side. Turn right up the hill, as per the footpath post on your left-hand side. Aim to the right of a bench, halfway up the hill, your direction 60 degrees. Past the bench, turn left, your direction 340 degrees initially, on a path above and parallel to the edge of the large fishing lake, called Prestons Lake, down on your left-hand side, and keep ahead parallel to the gravel track below. (Alternatively, if you prefer, walk along this track and through the car parking area on its far side).
  35. In 230 metres, with a footpath post on your left cross the car-wide track which goes uphill, and pass between a gap in the hedge ahead, past a portaloo on your left, dog-leg right and continue along a grassy path with a hedge on your left. In 400 metres you come to the far edge of the field. Turn right following the direction of the yellow pointer on a post along the hedgerow. In 40 metres turn left through the trees, your direction 10 degrees initially.
  36. For the next 600 metres, follow this recently diverted footpath which is intermittently fenced on both sides, until you reach a post on your left-hand side with many yellow arrows on it. (The far side of the post has arrows numbered 14 pointing to both left and right.) 3 metres before this post, go right through a metal fieldgate (its left-hand edge hinged on another metal fieldgate) out of the wood to follow a footpath with a hedge on your left-hand side, your direction 90 degrees.
  37. 2 00 metres further on, after a gap in the hedge and start of another, you come to a yellow arrow on a post part hidden in the hedge, pointing you to the right of the hedge.
  38. 150 metres beyond this [6], you come to another footpath post and turn right, following the direction of the arrow. Walk with the edge of the field and trees on your left-hand side, gently downhill , your direction 140 degrees.
  39. In 160 metres you come to the far edge of the field. Cross over the stile into the next field and ignore the track uphill, half left and follow the way slightly to the right towards another footpath post 60 metres away on the far side, your direction 140 degrees. Continue gently uphill along the left-hand side of the field, your direction 130 degrees initially, with a hedge on your left and a low fence on your right. In 200 metres the path curves around to the left and takes you out to a road T-junction. [7] Turn left along the road, your direction 350 degrees.
  40. In 300 metres, where the road curves around to the left towards a pretty thatched cottage, turn right along the road signposted Valiants and Garlands Farms only.
  41. In 170 metres you pass the entrance to Valiants Farm on your right-hand side. Follow the road as it continues around to the left. 350 metres further on, ignore a public footpath sign pointing off to the left. 180 metres further on, you pass Garlands Cottage on your right-hand side.
  42. Keep on this track, now gravel, following it round to the right, with ponds on your left-hand side, a drive lined with lime trees, until within 80 metres of the very substantial Garlands Farmhouse, at which point by a footpath post you turn left away from the track, opposite the first farm building, along the right-hand side of the farmhouse front garden, your direction 75 degrees. In 25 metres bear right on a car-wide grassy path, your direction 145 degrees, with a hedgerow separating the path from the farmhouse on your right-hand side. 90 metres further on, you come out into open fields and follow the grassy track as it continues along the left-hand edge of the field, your direction 105 degrees, with a hedge on your left.
  43. Ignore ways off and 340 metres further on, you come underneath overhead cables to the left-hand corner of the field. Go straight ahead for 10 metres through the trees into the next field and walk straight ahead along the right-hand edge of the field, your direction due east initially. Do not go down the track to the right into the trees.
  44. In 280 metres along the field edge, by a post on your right, turn right and cross over the ditch, via a bank, into the trees. In 5 metres bear left through the trees and in 15 metres go on two planks across another ditch. Turn left, following the direction of the footpath post with hedges to your left-hand side, your direction 55 degrees. Walk straight ahead along the left-hand edge of the field.
  45. 200 metres further on, with a pretty thatched barn ahead of you on your right-hand side, you come to the left-hand corner of the field, down a couple of steps, across some planks and out on to a narrow country lane T-junction. Turn right along the road, your direction 195 degrees. In 40 metres you pass the thatched barn and the entrance to a pink farmhouse on your left-hand side.
  46. 50 metres further on, turn left following the footpath sign, your direction 75 degrees, between new trees, on an alleyway between two fields, ignoring the field entrance on your left. In 200 metres you bear left, by a footpath post on your right, your direction 90 degrees, a brick hut is to your left-hand side. You make for the footbridge that is 90 metres ahead of you. Cross this wooden footbridge with metal railings.
  47. Go over the stile on the far side of the bridge into a field. Keep ahead, your direction 80 degrees, ignore the horse jump to your left and go through a metal gate and proceed uphill along the left-hand edge of the field, with a hedge on your left , towards a large farmhouse at the top of the hill. 150 metres up and over the brow of the hill, you can now see a metal fieldgate on your right-hand side. Turn half- right across the field, towards the gate, your direction 120 degrees. In 60 metres cross the stile to the right of the gate, and walk through the gap in the wooden fence ahead.
  48. Go straight ahead through the farm buildings of Ravensfield Farm (marked on the OS map) towards double metal gates on the far side. When you get to the gates, turn right along the gravel drive down to the road T-junction. There may be peacocks in the garden on your right.
  49. Turn left into the road and in 10 metres turn left again, with a sign saying “Public byway”, a car-wide path, your direction 20 degrees.
  50. In 200 metres you come out into a field and continue along the track on the right-hand side of the field, in the same direction.
  51. 650 metres further on, you come out to a road T-junction where you turn left, past the gateway into Horne’s Green Cottage, a very pretty 1821 thatched cottage on your left-hand side. In 35 metres turn right down the road signposted to Lamarsh, your direction 20 degrees.
  52. In 300 metres [8] turn right off the road, following the direction of the concrete public footpath sign, down a grassy car-wide track between two hedgerows and a ditch on your right , your direction 120 degrees.
  53. In 370 metres you come to a wooden footpath post pointing you straight ahead into the trees. Follow the narrow, potentially very boggy and overgrown footpath through the trees in the same direction as before (140 degrees).
  54. 400 metres further on, however lost you may have felt wading through a sea of vegetation, you come out on to the edge of a field, bear left on a farm track and follow the direction of the tree-line away to your right, your bearing 90 degrees.
  55. In 200 metres as the track bears half left uphill, keep ahead. In 150 metres go up steps and come out on to a road at a T-junction. There is a grassy triangle at the junction and you follow the right-hand edge of the triangle to pick up the blue bridleway arrow pointing down the road ahead, your direction 75 degrees.
  56. 125 metres further on, you come to another T-junction, with a horse chestnut tree in the middle of the junction. Go right on a track downhill, signposted Ferriers Barn, your direction 140 degrees. In 50 metres you pass Ferriers Barn on your right-hand side and carry straight on down the road.
  57. 100 metres further on, you ignore the footpath going over a bridge to your right.
  58. 450 metres further on, you come down to the bottom of the track and out on to a residential street T-junction. The sign to your left says “Lamarsh Hill” Turn right, going into the village of Bures. In 50 metres you pass a turning on the right signposted White Colne, and go straight ahead under the railway bridge. After the bridge you pass Water Lane on your left. 25 metres beyond that is the turning on the right – The Paddocks – which takes you up to Bures Station.
  59. If you wish to have tea in Bures, continue straight on down the road. 100 metres further on, you pass the other end of Water Lane on your left. After another 40 metres further on, the Swan Inn, one of your options for tea, is on your right-hand side. Just past the Swan, at the junction with Colchester Road, turn right to get to the Eight Bells, your other possible tea stop in Bures.
  60. To return to Bures Station retrace your steps.