South Woodham Ferrers
South Woodham Ferrers is an affluent town and is a civil parish in the borough of Chelmsford in Essex situated to the east of Fenn creek near where it meets the River Crouch.
If you like the Fenns and lovely peaceful walks along the river, then this will make South Woodham Ferrers the ideal place for you.
With direct rail links to London, as well as good road links with the A130, A12 and A127 respectively, South Woodham Ferrers is an ideal place for commuters, with London Liverpool St only 40 minutes away by train.
The A132 lies to the north of the town, which leads to the A130, a road linking Chelmsford to Canvey Island) and then into Wickford and to the A127 and A13 in Basildon. The B1012 road connects SWF with the Dengie peninsula, including the towns of Burnham and Maldon.
There is a healthy selection of bus routes connecting South Woodham Ferrers to all the towns in the surrounding area.
Due to the way the town is laid out, it is very easy to walk or cycle from one side of town to the other, and there is also a Golden Jubilee Walk, which was created in honour of Queen Elizabeth II for her Golden Anniversary in 2002.
A coastal path walk, which heads either towards the nearby village of Fambridge in one direction, or Battlesbridge in the other, provides a lovely view of the Crouch Valley/Estuary and can be picked up from the Compass Gardens area.
A truly fabulous feature of the town is that many street names in the south-western part of the town, developed as part of the second wave of building in the 1980s, are taken from the works of Tolkien with names like Gandalf's Ride, Gimli Watch, Rivendell Vale, Celeborn Street, Hobbiton Hill and Arwen Drive, great if you are a fan of The Lord Of The Rings.
The town has the usual varied combination of retail premises, banks, estate agents and cafes and restaurants, with supermarket chain Asda being regarded as a key development partner for the town centre, having opened a store in the town in late 1978 which made them the principal retailer in the town.
In the centre of town is The South Woodham Ferrers Leisure centre, which has a swimming pool and climbing wall along with all the usual fitness classes.
Home to the local football club and cricket team, the village hall is also a well known feature of the town which carries the support of the local residents who pride themselves on maintaining the focal point of the town.
