Warley and Thorndon Park

Monday 22nd May - the late May Bank Holiday - and the weather was very hot, threatening to be the hottest bank holiday ever, so I’d revised the walk to keep it as much in the shade as possible. I arrived at Brentwood Station and was soon joined by Jill V and Lynne, so we went to a nearby coffee shop. As the ladies were finishing their drinks, Kathy and Graham arrived.

We set off, heading past the station and uphill towards Hartswood, via Woodman Road, and passing the pub. It was pretty hot in the direct sun, but we soon reached Hartswood and entered the woodland, enjoying the coolness of being in the shade, and listening to the birdsong. We followed the forest path to the right, through woodland, which when I was younger had loads of wood ant nests, but we didn’t see any today.

After a while we crossed over a road to enter another area of woodland before reaching Warley playing fields, where we turned left and emerged by the council depot just off The Drive. We followed the road and emerged opposite the Old Ford Office, which used to be Ford’s European Headquarters, before turning left and entering Barracks Wood, which was used for training by soldiers stationed at Warley Barracks. We crossed over another road to enter Thorndon Park North and soon arrived at the visitor centre, where we had lunch at one of the picnic benches.

After lunch, and a drink at the Centre’s café, we set off to explore a bit of Thorndon Park, including the Deer Park, although there aren’t any deer in it now. The area near the visitor centre was busy with families exploring the Gruffalo Trail in the woods, and whilst we didn’t see the Gruffalo, we did see the squirrel and fox. We slightly over explored the area, ending up a bit further south than I originally thought we were, but soon picked up the track back to the visitor centre.

From here we followed the track past the park gates, similar to those at Copped Hall, and crossed over the road back into Hartswood, and followed woodland paths back to Hartswood Road, crossing over a ditch using a fallen tree-trunk as an impromptu bridge. Back on the road, Jill went off to visit a friend who lives locally, whilst the rest of us returned downhill to the railway station.

The walk had been very tranquil and we covered a distance of 7 miles. Whilst the day was the hottest May day on record, we had a nice comfortable walk, as apart from 15 minutes at the start and finish, it was almost entirely in the cool shade of the woods. Many thanks to those who came despite the promised/threatened heat and made it an enjoyable walk.

Trev (Pathfinder) Eley, 28th May 2026