Apologies to the lady SWC regular I met at the station this morning. I got on the wrong Southend-bound train, only discovering my error too late. I didn't actually leave the station on a train,so I'm christening it the 'Liverpool Street Station Circular', a not especially valuable addition to the SWC menu. Wonderfully helpful staff at ticket office. Note - You can get a full refund if you claim within an hour. Hope the Wickford walk went well.

10 walkers on this warm sunny day. The pre-lunch section of the walk was very enjoyable and The Old Windmill was a pleasant surprise with an interesting menu and large garden. Unfortunately the afternoon section was very flat with the overgrown paths that seem a regular feature of Essex walks. All did the standard Battlesbridge ending and most had refreshments in the garden of The Hawk Inn near the station where a local band was playing.

Essex means large arable fields, electricity pylons and distant road noise, right? Wrong in the morning of this walk, which started in gently hilly pasture and carried on through woods along a reservoir (whose water levels were very low). Even on a grey and gloomy day, this was pleasant scenery. Of the 15 on this walk, 11 of us then enjoyed a pleasant lunch at the pub, only slightly slowed by its insistence on taking food orders at the table.

Spooked by the forecast of afternoon rain seven walkers then took the bus to Wickford. Eight of us carried on into more classic Essex territory of the kind described in the opening sentence, its bleakness somewhat softened by the gathering gloom and a lack of any serious mud (though enough still accrued to our boots). Some even said this territory made a nice change from the usual.

Only the last 20 minutes of the walk were truly in the dark, and only at this point did it start to rain a bit. We were soon in the very cosy tea pub, however. Alas, the weather scotched plans for a moonlight walk and the last of us got the 18.16 train home.

For future reference: the bus stops right outside the lunch pub, The Old Windmill. There is a time table on the wall inside the pub, the staff is also very familiar with the time table. Bus number 13, and 14. They run every two hours at 2:38pm and 4:38pm to Wickford train station, cost £1.60. It may be worthwhile to add this to the instruction.

it says that (and has always done so) on the webpage and on page 2 of the pdf.

the walk author

car park closed and both gates locked at end of reservoir

however wire mesh fencing has been broken down to an almost convenient level