Wesbas two

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Wesbas here.

Not a recommended new Slow Way but I think the description is valuable is others are looking for an alternative to WesBas 1. That would have been better than this, traffic or no! I started from West Horndon, this route description incorporates my review.

You should avoid the bridleway and footpath linking Parkers Farm Road to the edge of Langdon Hills Golf Course. However from the top of Old Church Hill this route was probably an improvement on WesBas 1. A potential new route would link to it via pavemented roads E from W Horndon, paths onwards to Langdon Hills (depending on the viability of these) then via the WesBas 1 view point to Old Church Hill.

* WH to Fen Lane: easy to follow, decent width field edge paths, one short very muddy bit diagonally across corner of ploughed field.
* Fen Lane to airfield on Parkers Farm Rd (Thurrock Airfield for very light aircraft): Good, “verge” to Bulphan is a generous field edge path on the bank, up to the primary school. Pavements through tiny, pretty Bulphan, has both shop and pub but route goes past neither. Road is quiet beyond village limits, four cars passed but all well below 50mph limit. 750 dwelling planning application at airfield may change all this.
* Bridleway from Parkers Farm Rd to Brentwood Rd: Don’t waste your time or risk your skin health going through here. From the start I was threshing through skeletal vegetation. Many sturdy species like thistle, dock, burdock, but in particular several thickets of 3-4m high Giant Hogweed, filling pathway and unavoidable. Hence path can’t be used when it is in leaf - say Mar to Dec to be on safe side. Rooted bramble arches and possibly the rose and blackthorns will be hard to see through other the tall vegetation. Add 3 fallen trees and a clay pigeon shoot. The rooting and arching patterns of the bramble and the 3 - 4m height of the G Hogweed suggest this section was not cut back in 2023, I’ve little faith that it will become reliable enough to recommend. * Footpath from Brentwood Rd to Lower Dunton Rd: Different problems. Small patch of Giant Hogweed. Then plank footbridge criss-crossed by very low bramble. Then a functional sometimes narrow path between trees, signs hedging had previously been cut back hard. Clear section ends abruptly after passing a farm with large, smelly tanks. I joined field edge where there were signs others had done so before me. Mud began to stick to my boots (see later). Crossed fence to return to sanctioned path which was loosened and had been crossed before.
* Rejoining path from diversion at ///sunk.eagle.tidy: entry to path looks very good in other direction, risk is having to double back from the blockage (even if I could have looked harder and found a way through the earlier footprints suggest it’s more trouble than it’s worth). Next is about 2km of mud, the footpath is now beside or across ploughed fields. Path on field edge was far narrower than 2m requirement, on a bank, sometimes very uneven, stepped, rutted or missing. Paths that crossed fields were completely unrestored, no sign of footprints compacting a path here. The accumulation of mud on my boots was intense, it grew so heavy it defied it’s own stickiness and fell off under its own weight, multiple cycles of this. Literal heavy going. More Giant Hogweed stems in small clusters on field edge paths, it’s possible you’d have to go into crop to avoid touching them.
* Path reaches the golf course boundary at ///sunk.eagle.tidy: Small plank footbridge. Path very clear if sometimes quite muddy, in the normal range for the general weather conditions.
* This route joins WesBas 1 at the bottom of Old Church Hill. It was extremely quiet due to being closed at this end, luckily it was possible to squeeze between hedge and the 2 pits dug for gas pipe access. At the footpath turning for WesBas 1’s “What a view of London from here!” I tested going up the hill instead. Quick and easy underfoot but disappointing with only skimpy views, even through winter trees.
* Old Church Hill meets High Rd/South Hill at a small car park. In the far corner is a path which you could take towards the WesBas 1 view. No crossing point on the road but it was ok.

[From here may be better than WesBas 1. WesBas 2 is fairly straight, has public toilets, and the only roads encountered are very quiet until the two routes join, 600m from the station. WesBas 1 uses a wide busy road (High Road/B1007) and The Knares (feeder road to B1036 and B1007). Wes Bas 1’s line through Marks Wood looks convoluted to me, and apparently had a difficult to find path near the B1036.]

* Kissing gate by fencing opposite leads to woodland, a meadow with beacon, woodland again and nicely to the Langdon Hills Country Park (Westley Heights area) entrance with toilets and nearby Harvester. Through LHCP was the most straightforward off-road section of the whole route, just as long as you don’t miss the turning to the road (ask me how I know).
* From exiting LHCP to Lee Chapel is through Willow Park Nature Reserve on a long un-made public footpath through woods named Kingston Ridge. Fairly good going, route line shows how it’s more sinuous than PRroW official line, some muddy patches not atypical conditions for this path type. It brings you to a broad track, National Cycle Route something or other, where briefly follow more formal paths then a short, less official, side path through the woodland edge of Lee Chapel Recreation Ground. Emerges at play equipment and a long view across Basildon. Take nearby exit through trees, route is suburban from here. Quiet curving residential roads (Sporhams then Ramtree Fold) with occasional views across Basildon. Then meets WesBas 1 and it’s a short urban stretch to the station, some big roads but decent crossings.

The first half isn’t recommended for anyone, let alone wheelchairs/buggies or other wheelers. The section from the Old Church Hill car park has some mud and slightly uneven ground, some kissing gates within Country Park and Nature Reserve but no stiles, there are long shallow steps on a footbridge. Mid point stops, Shop and pub in Bulphan (just off route), Dog and Partridge pub on Brentwood Rd (reached by paths you should avoid), toilets at LH Country Park and short walk to a Harvester. The end of bus route 5 is also a short walk from LHCP car park

Not a recommended new Slow Way but I think the description is valuable is others are looking for an alternative to WesBas 1. That would have been better than this, traffic or no! I started from West Horndon, this route description incorporates my review.

You should avoid the bridleway and footpath linking Parkers Farm Road to the edge of Langdon Hills Golf Course. However from the top of Old Church Hill this route was probably an improvement on WesBas 1. A potential new route would link to it via pavemented roads E from W Horndon, paths onwards to Langdon Hills (depending on the viability of these) then via the WesBas 1 view point to Old Church Hill.

* WH to Fen Lane: easy to follow, decent width field edge paths, one short very muddy bit diagonally across corner of ploughed field.
* Fen Lane to airfield on Parkers Farm Rd (Thurrock Airfield for very light aircraft): Good, “verge” to Bulphan is a generous field edge path on the bank, up to the primary school. Pavements through tiny, pretty Bulphan, has both shop and pub but route goes past neither. Road is quiet beyond village limits, four cars passed but all well below 50mph limit. 750 dwelling planning application at airfield may change all this.
* Bridleway from Parkers Farm Rd to Brentwood Rd: Don’t waste your time or risk your skin health going through here. From the start I was threshing through skeletal vegetation. Many sturdy species like thistle, dock, burdock, but in particular several thickets of 3-4m high Giant Hogweed, filling pathway and unavoidable. Hence path can’t be used when it is in leaf - say Mar to Dec to be on safe side. Rooted bramble arches and possibly the rose and blackthorns will be hard to see through other the tall vegetation. Add 3 fallen trees and a clay pigeon shoot. The rooting and arching patterns of the bramble and the 3 - 4m height of the G Hogweed suggest this section was not cut back in 2023, I’ve little faith that it will become reliable enough to recommend. * Footpath from Brentwood Rd to Lower Dunton Rd: Different problems. Small patch of Giant Hogweed. Then plank footbridge criss-crossed by very low bramble. Then a functional sometimes narrow path between trees, signs hedging had previously been cut back hard. Clear section ends abruptly after passing a farm with large, smelly tanks. I joined field edge where there were signs others had done so before me. Mud began to stick to my boots (see later). Crossed fence to return to sanctioned path which was loosened and had been crossed before.
* Rejoining path from diversion at ///sunk.eagle.tidy: entry to path looks very good in other direction, risk is having to double back from the blockage (even if I could have looked harder and found a way through the earlier footprints suggest it’s more trouble than it’s worth). Next is about 2km of mud, the footpath is now beside or across ploughed fields. Path on field edge was far narrower than 2m requirement, on a bank, sometimes very uneven, stepped, rutted or missing. Paths that crossed fields were completely unrestored, no sign of footprints compacting a path here. The accumulation of mud on my boots was intense, it grew so heavy it defied it’s own stickiness and fell off under its own weight, multiple cycles of this. Literal heavy going. More Giant Hogweed stems in small clusters on field edge paths, it’s possible you’d have to go into crop to avoid touching them.
* Path reaches the golf course boundary at ///sunk.eagle.tidy: Small plank footbridge. Path very clear if sometimes quite muddy, in the normal range for the general weather conditions.
* This route joins WesBas 1 at the bottom of Old Church Hill. It was extremely quiet due to being closed at this end, luckily it was possible to squeeze between hedge and the 2 pits dug for gas pipe access. At the footpath turning for WesBas 1’s “What a view of London from here!” I tested going up the hill instead. Quick and easy underfoot but disappointing with only skimpy views, even through winter trees.
* Old Church Hill meets High Rd/South Hill at a small car park. In the far corner is a path which you could take towards the WesBas 1 view. No crossing point on the road but it was ok.

[From here may be better than WesBas 1. WesBas 2 is fairly straight, has public toilets, and the only roads encountered are very quiet until the two routes join, 600m from the station. WesBas 1 uses a wide busy road (High Road/B1007) and The Knares (feeder road to B1036 and B1007). Wes Bas 1’s line through Marks Wood looks convoluted to me, and apparently had a difficult to find path near the B1036.]

* Kissing gate by fencing opposite leads to woodland, a meadow with beacon, woodland again and nicely to the Langdon Hills Country Park (Westley Heights area) entrance with toilets and nearby Harvester. Through LHCP was the most straightforward off-road section of the whole route, just as long as you don’t miss the turning to the road (ask me how I know).
* From exiting LHCP to Lee Chapel is through Willow Park Nature Reserve on a long un-made public footpath through woods named Kingston Ridge. Fairly good going, route line shows how it’s more sinuous than PRroW official line, some muddy patches not atypical conditions for this path type. It brings you to a broad track, National Cycle Route something or other, where briefly follow more formal paths then a short, less official, side path through the woodland edge of Lee Chapel Recreation Ground. Emerges at play equipment and a long view across Basildon. Take nearby exit through trees, route is suburban from here. Quiet curving residential roads (Sporhams then Ramtree Fold) with occasional views across Basildon. Then meets WesBas 1 and it’s a short urban stretch to the station, some big roads but decent crossings.

The first half isn’t recommended for anyone, let alone wheelchairs/buggies or other wheelers. The section from the Old Church Hill car park has some mud and slightly uneven ground, some kissing gates within Country Park and Nature Reserve but no stiles, there are long shallow steps on a footbridge. Mid point stops, Shop and pub in Bulphan (just off route), Dog and Partridge pub on Brentwood Rd (reached by paths you should avoid), toilets at LH Country Park and short walk to a Harvester. The end of bus route 5 is also a short walk from LHCP car park