This popular walk from Beeleigh Falls, an OS premium route and also mapped by essexwalks.com, underwhelmed us. While the ample water en-route makes for plenty of wildlife, the route is still a little urban for our liking – it passes a huge tesco! The main problem is that the highlight of the walk is at the start, or the end if you prefer. Or both, as we did.
7.4km / 4.6 miles
Link to OS Route Map: Langford Circular
Conditions: Hot, Dry, 25 Degrees
Car Park: Beeleigh falls, access road is opposite Langford Village Hall towards Maldon Golf Club (free)
Beeleigh Falls
Beeleigh Falls is a wier where the Rivers Chelmer and Blackwater meet. Above the weir there is the freshwater River Blackwater which pours into the tidal River Chelmer. As you stand on the bridge, the Navigation canal made in the 1790s is in front and behind you. The ‘falls’ are certainly not as magnificent as a typical waterfall, but there is undeniable beauty in the calm river, the sound of the water rushing down the weir into the reeds, the smell of salty water and the contrast of man-made and natural, all in one place. When we visited again at the end of the walk, we passed over the weir to a flat platform next to the falls where Jack the greyhound could stand and cool his paws while taking in a drink.
Langford and farmland. Lots of farmland.
After seeing the falls for the first time, we headed back the way we came into Langford, passing the Museum of Power and a narrow gauge railway on the left. The museum was originally a 1920s pumping station which closed in the 60s. We passed Langford Mill, a paper mill for only a relatively short period, 1746 – 1798. It was then a water corn mill and later, used in the production of seed grain. Still an impressive building, the mill today houses flats. We headed through the Norman St. Giles churchyard onto the road, then bearing east up a farm track. There were curious cows, goats and sheep in the fields either side of this driveway. After passing a barn we reached a reservoir. We couldn’t get a great view of the water as a whole because of the trees but they open up periodically, just enough for us to spot Egyptian geese resting on the middle island.
The next section of the walk was frankly quite unenjoyable. We passed three private fishing lakes along the way, but it’s not clear if you’re allowed to actually be near them to enjoy them. The first one we passed was well-kept but the second, next to an overgrown and derelict bridge, was fenced off. Agricultural land surrounds both these lakes. Continuing the theme of uncertainty, the foothpath then goes up someone’s driveway! Immediately after this we passed through another working farm, a bit of scrubland, another fishing lake, then more farm tracks and land until we reached civilisation at Holloway Road, Heybridge. Heybridge is named after the bridge that we joined the towpath from. In the middle ages, this was a 5 arched stone bridge but today is a 2-arched brick one; the reduction in size owing to decreased water flow when the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation was constructed.
Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation
The Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation is just shy of 14 miles and opened in 1797. It faced strong opposition from the established sea port of Maldon, since it meant vessels could travel all the way to Chelmsford. It closed to commercial traffic in 1972 and became a leisure way instead.
We love a good canal walk. In fact, we have walked sections of the Navigation further inland and it’s delightful. Flat, calm and peaceful with the odd boat or swan to admire. This was not one of these walks. The towpath was quite badly littered, the canal looked polluted (it had a trolley in it!) and bridges were graffitied. We didn’t see a single boat! Be careful with dogs’ paws here, one bridge had a smashed glass underneath it. You even pass a huge Tesco. As the canal leaves the edge of town and back north through the golf course, the scenery somewhat improves but it was still too little too late to save this walk for us.
Even if you ignore the urban pollution, our main niggle was that the walk wasn’t wild enough for us, with even the rural parts seeming quite industrialised. Poignant then, that even the highlight of the walk – Beeleigh Falls – is man-made.
Post-Walk Maldon Pubs
Although not technically part of the walk, as many are still navigating our post-lockdown world, we thought it useful to share where we went after this walk. We drove into Maldon and parked at the beautifully landscaped Promenade Park with the intention of having an outdoor drink at The Queen’s Head on the Hythe. Unfortunately for us, drinkers enjoying the Monday sunshine packed the beer garden and the benches were way too close for comfort too. We headed back to the park to re-plan and had a delicious Cornish ice-cream from the kiosk (and Jack had a doggy cake).
In the end, we drove to The Royal Oak. We sat in the delightful beer garden – we didn’t ask about dogs inside the pub but he was welcome outside. The garden benefits from well-spaced rattan furniture, colourful flowers and decorations, and a peaceful view over the neighbouring field. The pub has made social distancing inside easy to adhere to, with well spaced out tables and helpful floor markings. On cask there was only Wibblers IPA on offer, which wasn’t really to our taste, but we appreciate that pubs can’t have lots of fresh ales on at this time. As our first pub outing since lockdown, we were pleased to support them.
Love Wild Walks
