"Why Wickford is perfect - for leaving" Wickford by pip_rab

Wickford is a small market town in south Essex, about 40 miles east of London.
It has good rail and road links to London, the Essex coast and via the M25 to the rest of the South-east.
Wickford's location was the main reason I moved here. It's good for commuting to London, without silly house prices, but I still feel I can get into the country when I want.
Many of the people using the town centre are elderly people, or parents with young children, and there are good local bus services, cycle paths and pedestrian only areas.
Wickford is growing fast at the moment. Lots of new houses have already been built and there are additional plans to regenerate the town centre. There is also a new Country Park, with lakes, bat habitats and space for wildlife and visitors. These changes don't always please the long term residents, and there are some deprived areas which don't sit comfortably with the new 'vision' but I'll be interested to see what Wickford looks and feels like 10 years from now.

Wickford has an adequate town centre, with a good range of shops and supermarkets, a market, library, swimming pool and train station and plenty of parking and local bus links. All of which means that the town centre is usually bustling during the day.
In the evening there are plenty of places to eat, including some very good Chinese, Greek and Indian restaraunts. There are also good fish and chip shops and a range of other take aways. Unfortunately there are no decent clubs or pubs around at the moment., and a lack of facilities for teenagers leads to them hanging around the high street at night.
Elsewhere in the town there are industrial areas, several schools, a large park, and lots of roads filled with bungalows and family houses.
All this is edged by a dual-carriage way to the south and countryside and villages to the north.

From a tourist point of view, the best thing about Wickford is the ease with which you can travel to more interesting places and attractions. It could make a good base for exploring London and the south-east, so if you have friends or relations with a spare bed you might want to consider stopping.
As a tourist destination in it's own right - well on a sunny day there might be enough to keep you occupied for a few hours, but on a rainy day........forget it.

• Pros:Location and travel links
• Cons:Scruffy, lack of nightlife and attractions
• In a nutshell:Offers nearly everything I could want - without getting even close to exciting.