Ingatestone to Battlesbridge walk
The Wid Valley and the Wid itself, Hanningfield Reservoir Nature Reserve and the Crouch Valley via a mix of woods and fields.

Stock Tower Mill
SWC Walk 158 - Ingatestone to Battlesbridge or Wickford
23-May-18 • thomasgrabow on Flickr
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St. Mary's Church, Buttsbury
SWC Walk 158 - Ingatestone to Battlesbridge or Wickford
23-May-18 • thomasgrabow on Flickr
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Large Field, Large Cattle Herd (Fristling Hall)
SWC Walk 158 - Ingatestone to Battlesbridge or Wickford
23-May-18 • thomasgrabow on Flickr
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Horses in Wildflower Meadow
SWC Walk 158 - Ingatestone to Battlesbridge or Wickford
23-May-18 • thomasgrabow on Flickr
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Ingatestone Hall
SWC Walk 158 - Ingatestone to Battlesbridge or Wickford
23-May-18 • thomasgrabow on Flickr
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Into the Wid Valley
SWC Walk 158 - Ingatestone to Battlesbridge or Wickford
23-May-18 • thomasgrabow on Flickr
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St. Mary's Church, Buttsbury, across a field
SWC Walk 158 - Ingatestone to Battlesbridge or Wickford
23-May-18 • thomasgrabow on Flickr
swcwalks swcwalk158 41935822174 G-T-TG
Length |
24.8 km (15.4 mi), with 230/277m ascent/descent. For a shorter walk see below Walk Options. |
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Toughness | 4 out of 10, with 5 hours 20 minutes walking time. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow at least 8 hours. |
Walk Notes |
This rewarding Essex walk avoids major roads and all remnants of industry and suburbia to initially traverse through grassy fields in the Wid Valley and follow the Wid itself for a while, before ascending through a delightful wood to the lunch stop in Stock. Afterwards several charming woods (some of them good bluebell woods) and Hanningfield Reservoir Nature Reserve are passed through, before a late lunch/early tea stop in South Hanningfield is reached. From there the route descends through more woods and fields into the Crouch Valley to the finish in Battlesbridge.
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Walk Options |
Shortcuts: It is possible to shorten the walk by taking a bus either from the early lunch pub in Stock to Billericay (frequent service), or from the late lunch/early tea pub in South Hanningfield to Wickford (approx. every two hours but not on Sundays).
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Maps | OS Landranger: 167 (Chelmsford) and 168 (Colchester) and 178 (Thames Estuary)
OS Explorer: 183 (Chelmsford & The Rodings) and 175 (Southend-on-Sea & Basildon) |
Travel | Ingatestone Station, map reference TQ 649991, is 9 km south west of Chelmsford and 55m above sea level. Battlesbridge Station, map reference TQ 776948, is 13 km south east of Ingatestone and 8m above sea level. Both are in Essex. Ingatestone is on the Great Eastern Main Line from Liverpool Street to Norwich (half-hourly service, hourly on Sundays), with a journey time of 27 minutes (34 minutes on Sundays). Battlesbridge is on the single-track Crouch Valley branch line from Wickford to Southminster, which has at least one train an hour Monday to Friday, one every 40 minutes Saturday, and hourly trains on Sunday (journey time from 45 to 60 minutes). Saturday Walkers’ Club: Take the train closest to 10.15 hours if intending to eat in Stock, 1/3 into the full walk; or the train closest to 9.15 hours if intending to eat in South Hanningfield 2/3 into the full walk. |
Lunch |
The Bakers Arms Common Road, Stock, Essex, CM4 9NF (01277 840 423). The Bakers Arms is located 8.9 km (5.5 mi) into the walk.
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Tea |
Several options at the end in both Battlesbridge and Wickford. For details see the pdf. |
Profile | |
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Help Us! |
After the walk, we would love to get your feedback You can upload photos to the SWC Group on Flickr (upload your photos) and videos to Youtube. This walk's tags are:
swcwalks
swcwalk158
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By Train |
Out (not a train station) Back (not a train station) |
By Car |
Start CM4 0BW Map Directions Return to the start: Finish SS11 7RG Map Directions Travel to the start: |
Amazon | |
Help |
National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Travelline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234 |
Version |
Oct-21 Thomas G |
Copyright | © Saturday Walkers Club. All Rights Reserved. No commercial use. No copying. No derivatives. Free with attribution for one time non-commercial use only. www.walkingclub.org.uk/site/license.shtml |
Walk Directions
Full directions for this walk are in a PDF file (link above) which you can print, or download on to a Kindle, tablet, or smartphone.
This is just the introduction. This walk's detailed directions are in a PDF available from wwww.walkingclub.org.uk