A walk full of surprises, straddling the borders of Colchester and Maldon
The walk
1. Walk down the driveway from the village hall and turn left onto Top Road. At the junction with Oxley Hill, turn left and cross the road to enter the bridleway opposite, behind the village sign. Follow the bridleway for about a kilometre, passing the concrete water tower, which is quite a local landmark, resembling a giant golf tee. On reaching Tudwick Road, turn left (effectively straight on) then after 250 metres take the footpath on the right, indicated by a metal fingerpost beside a telegraph pole. The route bends left then runs beside a wooden fence before turning right at a waymarker, down a path wooded on both sides. After 400 metres the path emerges via footbridge onto the edge of an arable field.
2. Turn right and follow the edge, looping round beside a wood called Wilkin’s Grove, the first mention of a name to be used more on this walk. Past the wood, a footbridge leads to the next field, at the end of which turn right along the edge of the next field again with the hedge on your right. The path becomes a track and passes a small lake on the left, then large numbers of polytunnels where Wilkin & Sons grow soft fruit for their famous jams and preserves. Pass a gate, and at a junction beside a bungalow called Belle Vue, turn right down a signposted footpath.
3. Keep straight, past a waymarked path on the left, to emerge at a small grove of fruit trees (quinces, I believe). Here, fork left, and towards the end of the grove turn right, cross the tarmacked lane and head down the field edge towards a lake. Skirt the field, pass the lake on your right and then turn left along the track, adjacent to yet more fruit trees. As you head north, the Wilkin’s jam factory can be clearly seen to the right. Pass beside a gate, then some veteran fruit trees (I think, mulberry), then the pink Gate House on your left, to reach a residential road: Cherry Chase. Pass Gorse Lane and cross Station Road to enter the footpath opposite (or turn left here for The Anchor). At the end of the path turn right then right again into Hutchinson Close, then bear left to pass through the Tesco car park and into Church Road.
4. Left here will lead to shops and cafes, but to continue the walk, turn right. Pass the Cheap Shop, famous for its art and crafts supplies, then at the crossroads by the war memorial turn left along Chapel Road. After a kilometre, opposite Grove Road, turn right into Park Drive, at the bottom of which is the access to a bridleway. Follow this for 800 metres, past the Park Lane nature reserve, to the bottom of the valley where a bridge spans Layer Brook. Continue straight over the bridge, ignoring the footpath off to the right, and head along a field edge. The bridleway then enters a wooded section, heading uphill to emerge onto a lane beside Park Farm.
5. Turn right along the lane. Before emerging at Barnhall Road it passes Oxley Meadow nature reserve on the right, a wildflower extravaganza famous for green-winged orchids. At the road turn right, then cross with care to access the field edge footpath opposite, beside a bungalow. In 130 metres the path turns right at a waymarker, along a narrow section to emerge into a meadow. Continue with the hedge to your left to reach Rectory Road. Turn left, pass the junction with Blind Lane, then pass the site of the Eastern Orthodox Monastery. Follow the road for a kilometre to reach All Saints Church.
6. Just past the church, cross a plank bridge by a concrete fingerpost to access a golf course. Navigation here is tricky; follow a dip in the ground to a patch of trees with a mown strip, then aim for what look like a pair of tall twin trees, with two white posts to the left. Watch out for golfers. There is a footpath entrance just to the left of the white posts accessing a narrow path, which emerge onto an arable field. Turn right and follow the edge to a footpath access over a plank bridge, beside a horse manège. The path emerges onto Honeypot Lane, which in 900 metres meets Blind Lane by an old railway bridge (the Kelvedon to Tollesbury Light railway – aka the Crab and Winkle Line – is long closed, pre-Beeching). The narrow footpath opposite leads to the recreation ground back at the Village Hall.
COMPASS POINTS
Distance: 7.6 miles (12.3km).
Starting point: Tolleshunt Knights Village Hall, Top Road, postcode CM9 8EU, grid reference TL914145.
Access: The Village Hall has a large free car park. The 91 bus (Witham-Tollesbury) stops in Top Road. The 75 (Maldon-Colchester) can also be used to access the walk (essexbus.info).
Map: OS Explorer 183 Chelmsford & The Rodings; OS Explorer 184 Colchester.
Refreshment: The Anchor pub and various cafes in Tiptree, or the tea-room at Wilkin & Sons jam factory.
Places of interest: The Monastery of St. John the Baptist, passed on Rectory Road, is an Eastern Orthodox community believed to be the oldest of its kind in the UK. It was founded in 1958 by a Russian monk, Father Sophrony, who died in 1993 and has since been canonised to become Saint Sophrony of Essex. All Saints Church was abandoned as a Parish church in 1957 and had fallen into disrepair but is now owned by the monastery and being gradually restored.
Wilkin & Sons have been making preserves in Tiptree since 1885 and their presence is prominent in the village. Their premises house a shop, tea room and museum.
Tiptree Heath nature reserve is the only site in Essex where all three native heather species can be found. It is also home to numerous other rare plants and animals, all despite being ploughed up and cultivated during World War 2. As a result of poor yields, it was rewilded in 1955.
Interactive map: essexhighways.org/getting-around/public-rights-of-way/prow-interactive-map
