Benfleet to Leigh-on-Sea Station

On a warm summer’s day, 10 EFOGers met at Benfleet Station at 11 am on Friday 18th July.

There was a short uphill stretch as we went up Station Road to turn right into Hadleigh Country Park and follow the gravel path heading towards Hadleigh Castle.

There were good views across the fields to East Haven Creek and the variety of boats moored there. There is The Hub Café in the country park, but that would have added a little to the walk so I’d phoned ahead to check that the Café at the Salvation Army Rare Breeds Farm could fit us in, which they could, so we followed the path uphill (steeper and longer than some would have liked) past Hadleigh Castle to the Café. Both the Café and Farm are staffed by trainees with special needs. The food was very well presented with generous portions for the Ploughmans.

Suitably refreshed we then moved on to the Rare Breeds Farm itself where we strolled leisurely round with some feeding the animals. After the long dry spell much of the grass in the enclosures was parched or virtually non-existent, but we saw that they did move the animals from time to time and let some into the wider fields with more abundant grass.

We then retraced our steps down to the Castle ruin from which there were views out to the Thames Estuary and Southend.

Passing through the Castle grounds we followed the footpath towards Leigh-on-Sea station. On the way we saw a large caterpillar on the path which was later determined to be an emperor moth.

After a 4 mile walk in total we reached Leigh-on-Sea Station at just after 4pm, having taken a little longer than anticipated at the café and elsewhere, to catch the train back to Benfleet and home. 

Richard, 25th July 2025
Photos by Madeleine