Brebas two

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

We walked from Brentwood to Basildon.
Well described by previous reviewers.
Some beautiful wood land walking, and across farmland with lovely views. A huge muddy field with no obvious path was a small challenge but otherwise a very pleasant walk with much to commend it. Unexpectedly hilly.
The outskirts of Basildon were open and easy to navigate, even in the dark, right to the train station.
Yet another walk wheels can't do, stiles and narrow areas.

A route which is generally pretty enjoyable but loses a star due to a tricky section near Little Burstead. From Brentwood's bustling streets the route follows tracks through woodland and having passed through Thorndon Park comes to the village of Herongate where there is a bus stop (all buses go to Brentwood) and a couple of pubs. The next section was a well marked, flat and relaxing walk. Joining the Billericay Road briefly, there is a narrow verge, and caution is required. You do, however, get your first views of Basildon. The paths to Little Burstead are clearly marked on the map, but alas not on the ground. This didn't appear to be used much at all until we reached the foot of the hill leading to the village. From there, everything was well marked and easy to follow. There's a brief walk along Dunton Road, which has a wide verge. The walk into Basildon is quite long and, thanks to some residential meandering and Gloucester Park and Basildon Sporting Village, doesn't require much walking along busy roads. With boots weighed down with caked on clay I was pleased to get straight on a train from the station adjacent to the meeting point. There's a shopping centre, pubs and the bus station too so it's well located. Overall, an enjoyable walk. Steps and stiles.

Walked from Brentwood to Basildon as a group on a fine winter afternoon and early evening (we finished in the dark). The route is mostly fine. The western half is easy to follow, though the waymarked paths through Harts Wood diverge a little from the rights of way and the paths shown on the OS street map. The only problem area is the path from the byway (Green Lane) south of Botney Hill Road, which is largely unmarked through a scrubby field and then a large clay field (the aerial photos suggest there is a cut line in summer). The route into Basildon from Laindon is not quite what we walked, as the footpath we were trying to follow proved impossible in the dark, and this version is more direct. Plenty of unsurfaced paths and a few stiles, so not wheelable. For the most part, this is a fairly good route.

From Brentwood, we head south along pavements and shortcut paths, then take the footpath south through Harts Wood, which is mostly easy to follow with occasional waymarks. Beyond The Avenue we head left into Thorndon Country Park, initially on the road to the car park (I think the no entry after dark sign on the gateway is for cars, since the road is a right of way. The tarmac road gives way to a good wide gravel track. The only point where it is easy to go wrong is where we leave the popular track near a bend to the right, going straight on using a smaller path that could easily be missed. We follow the edge of the golf course through more woods to reach Herongate, where there are two pubs and a few benches.

The field path from Billericay Road is well used, clear and easy to follow, Note that the path along the south side of the drainage ditch is better than the right of way on the north side. Either way we rejoin Billericay Road without any trouble. Take care on the short section along the lane. We go straight on onto Botney Hill Road then right down the Green Lane byway. The path left is not well marked, but there is a plastic tube allowing the barbed wire fence to be crossed near the corner of the scrubby field. At the other end of this field there is a little gap just left of the corner, beyond which we had to find our own way across a wet clay field. At the farm we picked up a waymarked footpath, which takes us up a hill (it is worth looking back for the views) to reach Little Burstead.

From here the path south picks its way through gardens (there are waymarks, but you have to look for them). A narrow fenced off path with stiles leads to open fields, and the path continues fairly directly all the way down to Dunton Road. There is a short section with no pavements, but the verge on the north side is walkable.

From here, residential streets and short surfaced tracks take us to the A127 bridge, which can be accessed using steps or ramps. More residential streets take us to St Nicholas Lane, where we pick up a cycle route that leads under the A176, through a park and into Basildon and the station, which can't be missed from this direction,.

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