Wickford Memorial Park — Attraction in Basildon

This is a huge site nestled behind Shotgate on the banks of the River Crouch. An avenue of remembrance for fallen Wickford soldiers, Café, children's play area, car park, cricket, football, woodland. There are few features to make it stand out yet the expanse of space in a heavily urbanised setting is welcome.

☆ Walk details... The Crouch is tidal so the water level changes... a lock at Battlesbridge also regulates water levels. You can walk almost to Battlesbridge on the south side of the river but a tributary cuts off a direct path and private land stops the public footpath. The walk has a pathway, but there is a lower river path which is muddy and has low trees. You pass through different fields until you reach a scrubland meadow with new tree plantings and an older wooded area known locally as 'Giddings Copse.'

You aproach a three arched railway bridge which is very muddy, and can continue on the south side of the river as far as you can go, before having to retrace your steps back to the Memorial Park. (On the opposite side of the river bank (north), after the railway bridge, is Shotgate Thicket).

I am told that the river can get low enough to cross over after the railway bridge... on today's walk the tide was high. I walked as far as we could on the south side and turned back to Wickford Memorial.

I drove to Battlesbridge and found access to the river restricted by private dwellings and a fishery. To get onto the north bank, take a footpath near 'The Hawk' public house, which takes you up to a railway line crossing (Wickford to Southminster). Walk alongside the railway line as it passes under the new A130, following the path to a sign post. The footpath sign points north but a gap in the hedge means you can walk south down a field track towards a 2nd world war pill box right at the bottom. If you squeeze around the pill box to the other side, you can continue following a wide track south, down the adjacent field to 'Shotgate Thickets' nature reserve which is a very poorly maintained site, with a couple of deep ponds (listed on Essex Wildlife website).

Go through the gate and follow the track around to the left, where it heads under the three arch railway bridge, and past a lagoon on your left. Continue up onto the flood defences and you can follow the river on the north side up to the A1245 bridge. Private land and a lot of fly tipping here forced me to turn back but you can see Battlesbridge Mill, now an...

In one word - amazing! What greets you as soon as you enter the park is the war memorial dedicated to all those brace soldiers who fell during WWI and WWII. And then starts the park itself, a long road lined on both sides by trees, each of which is dedicated to a war hero. Next, the lush fields show up, some for football, some for cricket, some open air gyms and then finally the children's park, with of course the Hutton's Cafe right next to it, where one can get all the refreshments one needs and admire the space, greenery and quiet all around.

We had a great time today - great space to go either alone or with your family, especially the little ones. One round of the park is sufficient to burn a significant amount of calories, and how better to do it rather than amidst trees, oxygen, sunshine and...

Nothing special, very flat with a few trees in a wooded area and a river running through. 6 football pitches which just creates an open flat area. Busy playground and crazy golf. Has a cafe, which I've never used. Just opened up an extension, hopefully it will be laid out with a bit more imagination. Okay for locals but don't make a special trip. It's not a Thorndon Park or South Weald park. Summer 2023 They have stopped cutting the grass in a lot of areas. Even to the side of paths, which is good fun when you have toddlers, they can’t walk through it and if they trip on the path it’s a hard fall. Masses of ryegrass which is brilliant for dogs ears, not. It is said that is being returned to nature! Cost cutting when translated from the...