Colin Crosby Heritage Tours

Guided Walks in Southend Area

From time to time I come back to the Southend area, where I grew up, and lead some Guided Walks.

I recently spent a weekend there again, and this time led two public walks, having also taken the Hockley and Hawkwell W. I. on a private stroll around Rochford.

On the Saturday afternoon, it was "Hadleigh". On a lovely day, I showed people some of the delights of Hadleigh (Essex), including a chat about the notorious and much feared cunning man Cunning Murrell.

The route also allowed me to visit Hadleigh Castle with its spectacular setting above the estuary of the River Thames.

The walk on the Sunday afternoon was "Prittlewell". Starting at Priory Park Gates, maybe half a mile from where I lived for the first 21 years of my life, and looking at the impressive St. Marys Church, where I was baptised as a baby, I showed the group a surprising amount of interesting and historic features of what was the mother village of Southend.

The last part of the route was through Priory Park, one of the nicest parks I know anywhere.

I am planning next year to feature "Rochford and Hawkwell" and "Old Southend" in the programme.