If you enjoy woodland walks, this short stroll around the area of Little Warley near Brentwood offers you the perfect way to explore the south of the county
1. At the rear of the car park you will see a white barrier gate. Follow the grass path to the fire beacon in the middle of the field and turn right, taking you to the road. Cross over and follow the permissive bridleway down into the woods. Just before a little wooden bridge over the stream, turn left along another path and keep straight on at the next junction.
Bear left at the fork and traverse a fallen tree, bearing right back onto the woodland path. At the horse and cycle sign go straight on (yellow route) and after a few more twists and turns, you will emerge at the road by the tennis club.
2. Be careful how you cross the road. Take the footpath opposite, passing the tennis courts to your left along a wide grass path. After a while the path goes back into the woods. Continue around a fallen tree and then two more fallen trees. The path veers right across a ditch. Follow the fence line to the road opposite Marillac Care Home. Turn left along the pavement. After the Ford Motor Company building, turn left along Clive Road.
3. After passing the unusual chapel of the East Anglian and Essex Regiment, turn left at the road junction along a lane which is a cul de sac and Footpath 112 to Magpie Lane. Before the end of the lane look out for a footpath post in the trees on the right saying ‘Warley Circular Walk’ and taking you into the woods. Bear left along the path soon after and proceed through the trees on the edge of the woods, keeping to the main track and following the yellow footpath arrows. After about half a mile you will reach the road where you turn left.
4. Keep to the right hand side of the lane where there is a grass verge. Pass a pretty lake and Blue House Farm, and then the golf course. Continue on past the next junction to the Greyhound pub where you can call in for a quick drink if you wish. Opposite the pub entrance on the other side of the road you enter a meadow of buttercups. Follow a narrow grass path across the field and soon after, at a little path crossroads, go right uphill to the woods. Just the other side of the trees is the little car park where you started.
Fact File
Distance: 2.7 miles
Starting point: The public car park in Childerditch Lane.
How to get there: From the A127 between the Great Warley junction (B186) and the Brentwood junction (A128), take the tuning on the left (only available to Southend bound, east, direction) at Childerditch Lane. The little car park is tucked away on the left, soon after the next junction with Magpie Lane.
Map: OS Explorer 175 Southend & Basildon
Refreshments: The excellent Greyhound pub is en route towards the end of the walk.
Tourist information Centre: Brentwood TIC, 44 High Street, Brentwood CM14 4AJ. Call 01277 200300
Places of interest nearby: The town of Brentwood lies just to the north. A mile away is Brentwood Museum, housed in a picturesque 19th century building which was once a sexton’s cottage. Although small, it offers a fascinating insight into Brentwood life in the early part of this century, with an exciting collection of social and domestic objects dating from around 1840¬1950. Also in the town are the foundations of the Chapel of St Thomas a Becket.
