Sep 3: St Peters Way (III)

I had not intended to split St Peters Way into several stages, but it seems to have worked out this way. Today I caught a train to South Woodham Ferrers, with the intention of rejoining the Way near Wickham’s Farm and walking as far west as I could.

I chose a different, and altogether more scenic route to the Farm, and the walk seemed a lot shorter thanks to an unexpected half an hour of work over the phone.

Once I started moving west, the first highlight was the small nature reserve at Thrift Wood, an SSSI and an important site for several species of plants, insects and birds.

At Bicknacre, I made a diversion to find the ruins of the Augustinian priory. This turned out to be more difficult than I had envisaged. The original access indicated on the map is now blocked off by a new housing development, and few of the locals had any idea of how to get it.

Undeterred, I eventually made my way around the back of the school to find an impressive gateway.

The section between the Hanningfields and Stock is particularly pleasant. East Hanningfield has a pleasant Victorian church, but West Hanningfield church is a real gem with a wooden tower. Unfortunately, both churches were locked.

The last highlight of the day was the wonderful tower mill at Stock, completed around 1816. A working windmill until about 1936, Stock has now been restored by a local society and is open to the public on the second Sunday of each month during the summer.

I then faced a 3-mile walk to Billericay to catch the train home. Fortunately, it was getting dark by the time I got there.

Today: 19 miles (10 on the trail)
Overall total: 76 miles