It was another unusual October day, not a blistering heat and no wind, it still had a perceived summer warmth. The trees of Stour Wood were not fooled by the temperature; browns and yellows mixed with the green of the leaves holding on with foolhardy hope.
Acorns and chestnuts cracked as I walked through the wood, an open access area with paths and well-worn routes. Huge coppiced trees that tell of many hundred years of management and suggest a thirty-pig pannage or more although shrunk when declared for taxes.
Through the tunnel under the railway and toward The Stour a single house with the quintessential British garden before you reach the river shore and then lonely scenery before reaching the posh beach-huts hidden behind land-fall.
Onward through the trees and eventually beside the marshes where birds meet to gaze and squawk at the twitchers as they hide in their huts.
Nothing prepares you for the view.
Essex proves hidden treasure not only in Epping or hidden within city boundaries and stood as the boundary to East Anglia since before the time Angles was adopted for the nation. A juxtaposition of industry and natural beauty and composed of just one.
Let Essex be your secret bounty and as you run from drudge and duty; burst through the forest and catch the hues, out of breath yet out of your mind and surprise the view!
Distance: 12¼ Miles
Elevation Range: 2 to 118 feet
Weather Check: BBC Weather Mistley, Essex.
Map: Click here and once loaded select “Leisure” map
Route Card: Stour Wood, Wrabness & Bradfield Heath Circular Walk
Download the Walkers Route Card Template for Word 2010