Aldershot Stadium was a greyhound racing , stock car racing and speedway stadium on Oxenden Road in Tongham , near Farnham , Surrey
31-654: The stadium was constructed on land west of the Oxenden Road and east of the Blackwater River . Greyhound racing first took place in 1941 and the racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the National Greyhound Racing Club ). It was known as a flapping track which was the nickname given to independent tracks. During the 1950s and 1960s racing was held on Wednesday and Friday evenings at 7.30pm. The track had
62-465: A King George's Field (or Plantation) in memorial to King George V , which is locally, and colloquially, known as ''the Planny'. Francis Waring (1760–1833) was the vicar of Heybridge. He was notorious for the extraordinary way he performed the duties of his office. He would read church lessons at breakneck speed, give a very quick sermon of one or two sentences and then run down the aisle and leap onto
93-557: A circumference of 400 yards with an 'Inside Sumner' hare system and race distances of 275, 500, 675 and 900 yards. Facilities included a licensed bar, tea bar and hot dog bar and totalisator . The track was grass straights and sanded bends. In 1964, the 20 acre site was marked as a site for housing by the Minitry of Housing but the Borough Council submitted objections, asking for it to be used for industrial development. During
124-431: A horse to gallop off and repeat the performance at two other churches in the area. His domestic arrangements were equally peculiar. Although he wasn't poor, his vicarage was furnished with rough-hewn logs, instead of chairs. His children ate their meals from a trough next to the split-log dining table. He and his wife slept in an enormous wicker cradle suspended from the ceiling. The Waring Room , St Andrew's church hall,
155-649: A programme of flood defence improvements. Most of the water flowing down the River Blackwater nowadays flows over a weir at Beeleigh and along the tidal section of the Chelmer before rejoining the Blackwater at Heybridge Basin. In 1865 HM Government passed the Maldon Harbour Act authorized construction of a wharf on the west side of the southern end of Heybridge Creek on land belonging to
186-685: A small supermarket, chemist, vets and dentist; many are situated around the Bentall's Shopping Complex along the Colchester Road. The town is also home to the popular Heybridge Swifts football club , currently competing in the Isthmian League Division One North . The final stage of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation Canal runs from Beeleigh through Heybridge and terminates at Heybridge Basin. This stage of
217-524: Is a large village and civil parish in the Maldon district of Essex , England. It is adjacent to the town of Maldon , near the River Blackwater . The parish had a population of 8,163 in 2021. Heybridge has a number of residential areas, most recognisable is the newer Bovis housing estates to the west of the town, which were built in 1995. Before building commenced, a full archaeological dig
248-402: Is based at Plantation Hall, a community centre on Colchester Road. Heybridge was an ancient parish . In 1931 it had a population of 2,061. The parish was abolished in 1934, with most of the area, including the village, being absorbed into the neighbouring borough of Maldon ; a more rural part of the old parish was transferred instead to the neighbouring parish of Great Totham . The borough
279-421: Is named after him. Edward Hammond Bentall (1814–1898) was an industrialist who developed the agricultural machinery manufacturing business established by his father William Bentall (1776–1836) and traded under the name E H Bentall & Co . In 1873 he built a large Italianate house called The Towers at the corner of Goldhanger Road and Colchester Road. The house pioneered concrete block construction and
310-517: The Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation . Some people believe that the River Blackwater at Heybridge, near where the "high bridge" was later constructed, was the site of the Battle of Maldon in 991 AD. This belief, however, is contentious. The site of the battle cannot be unambiguously determined from the poem The Battle of Maldon itself, and over the years, various people have had different theories about where it happened. The key role of an island in
341-579: The Great Eastern Railway Company, and improving the channels of the rivers Chelmer and Blackwater. Ten thousand pounds were spent on widening, deepening and improving the river from the Fullbridge to just downriver from Herring's Point, near Heybridge Basin. After this, vessels had to pay a toll of 3 pence a ton if they were under 50 tons register or 6 pence a ton if they were over that. A medieval 5-arched stone bridge over
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#1732790881994372-678: The River Chelmer , which meets it just east of Maldon. The lower reaches of the Chelmer, from Chelmsford , were canalised in the 1790s, and the navigation diverts water north of the Blackwater through Maldon before emptying into the Blackwater Estuary at Heybridge Basin . One of the most famous Viking battles in Britain , the Battle of Maldon , possibly took place at the mouth of the river in 991. The Battle of Maldon , an early-11th-century fragmentary poem which describes
403-609: The 1980s the facilities were listed as three stands (one glass fronted and two covered. race distances were now 254, 462, 626 and 842 metres and the main races were the Smokey Joe Stakes and the March Hare Stakes. Speedway took place from 1950 until 1960. During 1973 the stadium was taken over by Spedeworth International Ltd and Stock car racing was a regular fixture. There was also a weekly Sunday market. The stadium closed on 30 October 1992 making way for
434-487: The Blackwater froze from Maldon to Osea island, a distance of some four miles. The ice trapped fishing and cargo carrying vessels and blocked any imports of coal, oil, wool to Maldon. In 1793 the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation Company was formed by act of Parliament. Over the next four years, the company built a navigation from Chelmsford to meet the tidal estuary of the River Blackwater in Colliers Reach at
465-716: The Blackwater. Osea Island is a privately owned Island that is situated on the Blackwater Estuary, north of Steeple . Northey Island owned by the National Trust, is approximately one mile to the west of Osea Island. It is part of an ancient landscape and is connected to the shore by a tidal causeway. It is believed by some to have been the site of the Battle of Maldon in 991 AD and offers birdwatching opportunities. 51°45′13″N 0°39′29″E / 51.75365°N 0.65815°E / 51.75365; 0.65815 Heybridge, Maldon#Heybridge Basin Heybridge
496-465: The River Blackwater at Heybridge (from which that village got its name) was replaced in 1870 by a 2-arched brick one. That bridge was at the north end of the Causeway, at its junction with Heybridge Street and Holloway Road, but the bridge there now is hardly distinguishable as such. The Maldon Crystal Salt Company produces crystalline sea salt by traditional panning techniques from the waters of
527-599: The River Blackwater, and veers east to flow past Bradwell Juxta Coggeshall and Coggeshall . It then veers south, flowing past Kelvedon and Witham , before reaching Maldon . There, it veers east again and empties into the Blackwater Estuary , which in turn meets the North Sea at Mersea Island . The River Blackwater has two major tributaries: the River Brain , which meets it just south of Witham, and
558-607: The Wave bridge. In the early 1970s, a new factory complex was built on the other side of the canal, on land where Bentalls had previously had only offices and a foundry, and the land along Heybridge Street was vacated. Today, the Bentalls shopping centre occupies the later site. There are three tiers of local government covering Heybridge, at civil parish , district and county level: Heybridge Parish Council, Maldon District Council and Essex County Council . Heybridge Parish Council
589-501: The battle, mentions the Panta and describes a tidal causeway which could be the causeway leading to Northey Island . The Saxons were defeated and their leader, Byrhtnoth , was killed. The Blackwater was a source of fish and oysters for the town of Maldon during the Roman occupation. The remains of Saxon fish traps were discovered in the river in the 1990s. During the winter of 1776
620-513: The canal required much planning and work at its inception, as a constant running water supply was needed to the two mills nearby, in Langford and Heybridge. This was achieved through the diversion of the river Blackwater and extensive works around the Beeleigh locks. The Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation Canal was originally used to transport coal & wood to the inland town of Chelmsford, as
651-442: The course of the River Blackwater to Heybridge , and from there via a canal to the sea lock at Colliers Reach. A weir connected the navigation to the tidal river Blackwater at Heybridge, where it powered a water mill. Heybridge mill was demolished after severe flooding in this area in 1953, but the mill house still stands. The river (known here as Heybridge Creek ) was dammed between Heybridge Hall and Potman marsh in 1954 as part of
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#1732790881994682-484: The direct road via Danbury crests the highest hill in south Essex. The canal was used for this purpose until the late 70s although it had been in steady decline since the Great Eastern Railway opened its lines to Maldon in the 19th century. Today it is mainly used for pleasure boats and fishing. Heybridge has a Non-League football club Heybridge Swifts F.C. who play at Scraley Road. Heybridge has
713-581: The high bridge that was built over the River Blackwater in the Middle Ages, at Heybridge Square (the junction of Heybridge Street, Holloway Road, and the Causeway). This was a 5-arched stone bridge and it was replaced in 1870 by a 2-arched brick one. Much of the water flow down this part of the river had, by then, been diverted into the River Chelmer by diversion work done during construction of
744-597: The new A331 road . The loss of the stadium was seen as a blow to Independent racing because it was one of the more professional tracks in this type of racing. River Blackwater, Essex The River Blackwater is a river in Essex , England. It rises as the River Pant in the northwest of the county, just east of Saffron Walden , and flows in a generally southeast direction to Bocking, near Braintree , via Great Sampford and Great Bardfield . At Bocking, it becomes
775-716: The new world of the Automobile , producing their first car, the Bentall 9hp in 1908, with production ending in 1912. By 1914 Bentalls had 600–700 employees. During the first world war they took on female workers for the first time, and the workshop was equipped with pneumatic hoists. After the war, though, the fortunes of the company declined – largely due to its involvement in the Agricultural & General Engineers association. After A G E went bust in 1933 Bentalls gradually began to recover. In 1961 E H Bentall and Co
806-443: The place that is today called Heybridge Basin (after the canal basin there). The burgers of the borough of Maldon refused to allow the canal to pass through their borough, so the company routed it just outside the borough boundary, which is why it ended up at Colliers Reach, rather than at Maldon. From Chelmsford, the navigation mainly followed the course of the River Chelmer until it reached Beeleigh, near Maldon. Then it followed
837-506: The poem would seem to make the traditional site of the battle at Northey Island to the south more likely. The island in question is within shouting distance of the mainland, which would rule out Osea Island to the east. Heybridge was an agricultural village until the 1970s and 80s, when a considerable proportion of the local farm land was given over to house building. The main industry in Heybridge itself, until it ceased trading in 1984,
868-421: Was in turn abolished in 1974, being replaced by the larger Maldon District. No successor parish was created for the former borough. A new parish of Heybridge was created in 1987 covering the part of the former borough of Maldon north of the River Blackwater . In 2020 a separate parish of Heybridge Basin was created from part of the parish of Heybridge. Heybridge's facilities include a number of takeaways ,
899-476: Was taken over by the Acrow group. Acrows went into receivership in 1984 and Bentalls factory closed down. Bentalls started life in the large building which still stands on the canal bank near the corner of Hall Road and Heybridge Street. It expanded across the road, eventually occupying all the land between Heybridge Street and the canal, with the exception of the site of the flour mill at Going's wharf, adjacent to
930-534: Was the agricultural machinery manufacturer E. H. Bentall & Co . William Bentall, some time between 1760 and 1790 invented the Goldhanger plough, which was put on the market in 1797. The company was established in 1805 on the south bank of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation , and grew into a large factory complex that operated for nearly 180 years. Prior to the First World War, Bentalls moved into
961-517: Was undertaken and the excavations showed the existence of an important Iron Age settlement and ritual complex, a large Roman settlement and a succeeding Saxon settlement, as well as scattered pre-historic remains. Along the Goldhanger road to the east are situated a number of traditional British holiday campsites , catering for both permanent residents and visitors. Heybridge was originally called Tidwalditun . The name Heybridge came from