SOUTH WOODHAM FERRERS

'South Woodham Ferrers' is a civil parish in the borough of Chelmsford in Essex, England. It is approx 35 miles (56km) from London. 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.

Contents

History

National press

Radar Hill

Other

Transport

Notable Residents

Places of interest

External links

History

The railway station was originally built in the early 20th century to serve the smaller town of Woodham Ferrers, which lies a mile or so to the north of South Woodham Ferrers, above the valley where 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.

National press

The town briefly made the national news in April 2005 when a group of teenagers 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.
The town's dominating Asda store was opened in 1982. HM Queen Elizabeth II opened the town square which is named after her.
Celebrity Big Brother Star ''Micheal Barrymore'' was taken to South Woodham Ferrers Police Station early 2007 for questioning involving a previous charge. Eventually the star was released from the towns station and cleared of all charges.

Radar Hill

''Radar Hill'', technically part of South Woodham Ferrers, 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. Its true name is 'Bushy Hill'. There are also rumors that radar hill conceals a bunker however there is no evidence to confirm this.

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 Church of England and St. Joseph's Roman Catholic schools, which are both attached to the Holy Trinity Church in the town centre. In the northern area of Woodham Ferrers, there is St. Mary's School (not to be confused with Trinity St. Mary's).
In Summer 2006, South Woodham Ferrers elected its first town mayor, Councillor Ian Roberts.

Transport

South Woodham Ferrers has good transport links. 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 peninsular, including the towns of Burnham and Maldon. The town is also served by South Woodham Ferrers railway station, (formally Woodham Ferrers station until May 2007) a station on the single track Crouch Valley Line which runs hourly trains 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. There are many bus routes into surrounding towns:

★ Wickford

★ Danbury

★ East Hanningfield

★ Hullbridge

★ Latchingdon

★ Maldon

★ Battlesbridge

★ Althorne

★ Burnham-on-Crouch

★ Chelmsford
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.

Notable Residents

★ Reading midfielder, James Harper

★ ''There's Something About Miriam'' contestant, Aron Lane

★ The Fallen, Rock Band

★ Charlotte Killin, Glamour Model

Places of interest

Places of interest include The William De Ferrers Sports College, Marsh Farm Country Park, Compass Gardens, Saltcoats Park and the Memorial Park.

External links

★ South Woodham Ferrers Town Council Website