Chesou one

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Chesou here.

I walked from Chelmsford to South Woodham Ferrers on a warm dry August Saturday. This is a good route with lots of field walking. The route alignment is not tied well to the footpaths but is generally understandable. Coming out of Chelmsford alongside the Chelmer navigation it's unclear which of the paths the route is supposed to represent. I chose to walk the path along the north bank, I doubt it makes much difference as they converge at Sandon Water Works. You can swap banks at Barnes Mill Lock if the grass looks greener on the other side. Crossing the A1060 between the Water Works and Sandon village requires care as the road can get busy with fast traffic. I stopped at The Crown in Sandon for a pint (also does food). The route along Buckhatch Lane passes a pedestrian entrance to RHS Hyde Hall (by the bus stop) where a short diversion provides access to the Clover Café, which is outside the ticketed area. The footpath running around the south of Hyde Hall is charming, so it is unfortunate that you then face a stretch of road walking on Crephedge Lane with very little verge until you reach some pavement. The RHS really should invest in a safe walk and cycle route alongside this road between Woodham and Hyde Hall - their landholding could provide a significant part of this (they instead promote a more circuitous walking route using existing footpaths (that are not suitable for wheeling) and expect cyclists to use the accident-prone road).

We walked this route from S.Woodham Ferrers to Chelmsford. It's easy to follow on marked footpaths and bridleways with some road walking. If completing it in the same direction, you're heading N.W. virtually all of the time. Care is needed on the road sections where there is only a limited verge. We completed in very dry weather so would assume some parts of the route - across fields - might be very muddy in winter!.

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