Tipcol one

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

We walked this route today and we enjoyed it. Nice scenery out of the town and good paths along the way no issues getting through the fields or the woods a nice walk today.

This route from Colchester to Tiptree is straight forward, easy to follow and takes you through changing landscapes.
There are some sections of Road walking but these were B roads and pretty quiet overall.
Reviewed as 3 star due to the some farmers field not having clear paths but they were all accessible.
Once out of Colchester the route opens up to fields and woodlands and is a pleasure to walk.
Tiptree itself had a fair few amenities,so perfect if you are just walking one section.

Nice route and some nice green woodland and fields once you get out of Colchester the route was easy to follow and some nice points of interest . Pretty flat going and the paths were easy enough to follow.

I walked from Colchester to Tiptree on a warm and dry day in June. This is a safe and direct route between the two settlements with an enjoyable rural section between Layer de-la-Haye and Tiptree. I’ve marked it down for the long section walking alongside the B1026.

It’s remarkable, and welcome, that there is continuous pavement between the centre of Colchester and St John the Baptist church (south of Layer-de-la-Haye) but much of this route is well-used by cars with the concomitant noise and pollution. (I think a good alternative would be to leave central Colchester following either the Garrison Cycle Route (largely off-road) and/or the public footpath to Berechurch, then on through Friday Wood (keep to the waymarked rights of way and obey Army warning notices) to pick up the path of TipWiv One as it skirts around the north of Abberton Reservoir - but I haven’t walked this way yet).

The route alignment is a bit loose on the section between Colchester and Layer-de-la-Haye but easy enough to interpret. I stopped for a pint at the Donkey & Buskinswhich (also does food). On reaching St John the Baptist church, Layer -de-la-Haye there’s a permissive path going south that provides easy access to the footpath going west towards Layer Marney (if yoneedof sustenance, the permissive path continues south to the Essex Wildlife Centre where you can get refreshments at the Abberton Nature Discovery Centre).

After passing the wonderful Layer Marney Tower the route takes what I think is an unnecessary jaunt north. Suggest ignoring this and taking the westbound public footpath then the quiet Stockhouse Road and Haynes Green Road and rejoining the route on the southbound public footpath across the fields to Grove Road, Tiptree. When I walked a lot of the footpath here was overgrown and easy to miss.

At Grove Road, the route alignment of the SlowWays map is unhelpful and seems to propose an unnecessary road route. In any case, almost opposite where the footpath exits the fields there’s an opportunity to join a series of connecting suburban foot/cycle paths heading towards central Tiptree. Maps show this route terminating in Elwin Road but you can carry on a little further to exit onto Seldon Road. Follow this into New Road and arrive at the route end on Church Road, Tiptree.

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