South Woodham Ferrers

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South Woodham Ferrers

Coordinates: 51.651° N 0.6124° E

South Woodham Ferrers (United Kingdom)
South Woodham Ferrers
Population 16,629 (2001 Census)
OS grid reference TQ812970
District Chelmsford
Shire county Essex
Region East
Constituent country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town CHELMSFORD
Postcode district CM3
Dial code 01245
Police Essex
Fire Essex
Ambulance East of England
UK Parliament West Chelmsford
Rayleigh
European Parliament East of England
List of places: UK • England • Essex

South Woodham Ferrers is a civil parish in the borough of Chelmsford in Essex, England. It had a population of 16,629 according to the 2001 census. The town is to the east of Fenn Creek, and near where it meets the River Crouch. South Woodham Ferrers is part of the Rayleigh constituency represented by Mark Francois. South Woodham Ferrers is mainly a commercial town, however mainly in the southern area, there are some beautiful views, walks and general places, mainly along the River Crouch.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Town Development

The railway station was originally built in the early 20th century to serve the smaller town of Woodham Ferrers, which lies a mile (1.6 km) or so to the north of South Woodham Ferrers, above the valley in which the railway runs. The town of South Woodham Ferrers itself grew up around the station, but underwent dramatic growth as part of a planned development in the late 1970s. The final phase of the town's development has occurred in the last two years with a new area of building near Fenn Creek.

Many street names within the southern 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 such as Gandalf's Ride, Gimli Watch, Rivendell Vale, Celeborn Street, Hobbiton Hill, Arwen Drive and Tighfield Walk.

[edit] National Press

The town briefly made the national news in April 2005 when a group of teenagers(matthew almond) began hurling spare frozen barbecue sausages over their garden wall - one of them passed through the open window of a passing car and broke the nose of the driver, John Hatfield.[1]

South Woodham Ferrers also had the misfortune to appear in the 2003 publication 'Crap Towns: The 50 Worst Places To Live In The UK' (ISBN 0-7522-1582-5), in which it was ranked 33rd. UK towns were nominated for their 'crapness' via the Idler Website, with the results being published in The Idler and in the book. Upon news of this 'award' the local magazine 'The Focus' was inundated with letters from inhabitants quick to defend the town.

Also south woodham was on the news when a young girl was stbbed in the chest whilst in an art lesson. The stabbing was an accidant however the culprit was severely punished.

[edit] Radar Hill

Radar Hill, technically part of SWF, lies to the north of the town. It is known as Radar Hill due to the various radar mounted antennae that are on it, some of which were removed in 2005. It has been suggested as the cause of the minor amount of subsidence to homes in the north of the town. There are rumours that the entire hill has an underground bunker complex, which could be partially confirmed by one of the signs on one of the structures as it makes a reference to going below ground. When the hill is covered in snow, and on February 8th 2007 particularly, the hill is used by SWF residents as a sledge hill and they bring their sledge and go down the snow-covered hills. Local celebrities Hegman and Piggywiggy most enjoy this and can sometimes be seen sledging down it giggling frantically!

[edit] Other

The main secondary school in the town is William de Ferrers, the first intake of which was in 1982. Primary schools include Woodville, Elmwood, Chetwood, Collingwood, as well as Trinity St. Mary's CofE and St. Joseph's RC schools which are both attached to the Holy Trinity Church in the town centre. In the slightly northern town of Woodham Ferrers, there is St. Mary's School (not to be confused with Trinity St. Mary's)

The Asda supermarket in the town centre resembles most large purpose-built supermarkets with its brown bricks and sloping, slated roof, but was actually the first supermarket designed in this style, and all other UK supermarket buildings like this are derivative of the one in SWF. The supermarket was opened in 1979, by none other than HM Queen Elizabeth II.

The superstore also contains a McDonald's

In Summer 2006, South Woodham Ferrers elected its first town mayor, Councillor Ian Roberts.

Discussions are also continuing into plans for the regeneration of the town centre, which does not have many shops, and a fair number of these have shut down. Some argue this is down to the dominating presence of the Asda store in the town centre, which provides an enormous variety of choice for consumers. As Asda has grown in recent years and expanded its range of items, local shops nearby have felt the pinch, causing many to go out of business.

[edit] Transport

South Woodham Ferrers has good transport links. The main road lies to the north of the town, which is the A132, this leads to the A130, (a road linking Chelmsford to Canvey Island) and then to the A127 and A13 in Basildon. The Town is also served by Woodham Ferrers railway station, a station on the Crouch Valley Line which runs between Wickford and Southminster. During rush hour however, trains run to and from London Liverpool Street.

The town also has a circular bus service (No. 37) run by the bus company NIBS. There is also the No.36 bus which runs from South Woodham Ferrers to Chelmsford run by the First Essex, part of the First Group.

Due to the way the town is mapped 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 set in honour of Queen Elizabeth II for her Golden Anniversary in 2002.

[edit] Hegman

In 2004, the town's local magazine, Focus, printed a letter from a concerned resident complaining that somebody had been posting pictures of a mysterious character named Hegman through their door. Hegman became the center of attention within the magazine for some weeks to come, with several SWF residents writing in insisting that they had seen him whilst out and about in the town. He was supposedly on roller skates and wearing a cone shaped hat.

Whilst the myth of Hegman has never actually been disproven, he has since been regarded as no more than a fictional character created solely for individual entertainment.

[edit] Places Of Interest

  • Places of interest include Compass Gardens, Saltcoats park and the Memorial Park (built to compensate for the absence of a "working" graveyard in the town)
  • South Woodham Ferrers is also home to Marsh Farm Country Park, a popular tourist attraction.
  • There is also Tropical Wings, a small wildlife center and has one of the largest butterfly sancturies in England.
  • There is a childs play area called Creepy Crawlies, where there are such things as a ball pit and soft play area for under 10's.
  • Saltcoats park is also home to the South Woodham Ferrers Rugby Club who are regarded by many as one of the finest clubs in the country www.swfrfc@talktalk.net.

[edit] Nearby Places

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Banger and bash", The Times, April 20, 2005, p. 23; "The banger and smash victim", Daily Mail, April 20, 2005, p. 5; "The usual sauspects", The Sun, April 20, 2005, p. 26

[edit] External links

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The towns and villages of
Chelmsford borough, Essex in the East of England:		 Flag of Essex, England

Around the town of Chelmsford: Broomfield • Chelmer Village • Great Baddow • Springfield

Towns: Chelmsford • South Woodham Ferrers

Villages: Bicknacre • Boreham • Chalk End • Chapel Row • Chatham Green • Chignal Smealy • Chignal St James • Cooksmill Green • Danbury • Downham • East Hanningfield • Fanner's Green • Ford End • Galleywood • Galleyend • Good Easter • Great Leighs • Great Oxney Green • Great Waltham • Highwood • Howe Green • Howe Street • Little Baddow • Little Leighs • Littley Green • Little Waltham • Margaretting • Margaretting Tye • Mashbury • Moulsham • Newney Green • North End • Pepper's Green • Pleshey • Ramsden Heath • Rettendon • Rettendon Place • Roxwell • Runwell • Sandon • South Hanningfield • Stock • Tye Green • West Hanningfield • Writtle • Woodham Ferrers
Chelmsford is the county town of Essex
List of places in Essex
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