South Fambridge

The 7th Cruiser Squadron (also known as Cruiser Force C) was a blockading force of the Royal Navy during the First World War used to close the English Channel to German traffic. It was employed patrolling an area of the North Sea known as the Broad Fourteens in support of vessels guarding the northern entrance to the Channel. The Squadron had been part of the Third Fleet of the Home Fleets. The squadron came to public attention when on 22 September 1914, three of the cruisers were sunk by one German submarine while on patrol. Approximately 1,460 sailors were killed and there was a public outcry at the losses. The incident eroded confidence in the government and damaged the reputation of the Royal Navy, at a time when many countries were still considering which side they might support in the war.

Blue House Farm is a 242.8-hectare (600-acre) nature reserve and farm in North Fambridge, on the north bank of the River Crouch between Burnham-on-Crouch and South Woodham Ferrers in Essex. It is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust. Most of the site is in of the Crouch and Roach Estuaries Site of Special Scientific Interest.This site has been grassland for the last 100 years, and it is grazed by cows and sheep. The site has ponds, creeks and ditches, and a 20 hectare field is flooded during the winter, providing feeding grounds for large numbers of wildfowl and wading birds, including around 2000 Brent geese. Other winter birds include lapwings, golden plovers and dunlins, while there are spring migrants such as green sandpipers and spotted redshanks, and breeding birds such as skylarks and meadow pipits. Mammals include water voles and hares, and many butterflies.There is access only to a footpath through the farm, which has three bird hides along it. The footpath runs from Blue House Farm Chase to a footpath along the river bank.

North Fambridge is a village and civil parish on the Dengie peninsula in the English county of Essex. North Fambridge is on the north bank of the River Crouch opposite South Fambridge and is served by North Fambridge railway station on the Crouch Valley Line. Administratively, North Fambridge forms part of the ward of Purleigh in the district of Maldon.Adjoining the village is Blue House Farm, a 605-acre (2.45 km2) Site of Special Scientific Interest and nature reserve owned by the Essex Wildlife Trust.In the Domesday Book, North Fambridge was known as 'Fanbruge'. North Fambridge is home to the Fambridge Yacht Haven Middle Distance Triathlon. The first event took place on 24 July 2011 and was the first Half Ironman Triathlon in Essex and the wider region.

North Fambridge railway station is on the Crouch Valley Line in the East of England, serving the village of North Fambridge, Essex. It is 37 miles 27 chains (60.09 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between South Woodham Ferrers to the west and Althorne to the east. The Engineer's Line Reference for the line is WIS; the station's three-letter station code is NFA. The southern (westbound) platform has an operational length for eight-coach trains while the northern (eastbound) platform can accommodate nine coaches.The line and station were opened for goods on 1 June 1889 and to passenger services on 1 October 1889 by the Great Eastern Railway. Facilities then included two platforms, both provided with buildings and linked by a footbridge; a goods yard including cattle pens; and a 30-lever signal box, reduced to 10 after 1966. The signal box was taken out of use on 1 December 1985 and demolished in February 1986. The original footbridge was replaced with a higher one prior to the electrification of the line in 1986. Electrification using 25 kV overhead line electrification (OLE) was completed on 12 May 1986. North Fambridge station is currently managed by Greater Anglia, which also operates all trains serving it. The typical off-peak service is of one westbound train every 40 minutes to Wickford and one eastbound train every 40 minutes to Southminster, with additional services at peak times. Some peak services continue to or from Shenfield and/or London Liverpool Street via the Great Eastern Main Line. As North Fambridge is at the midpoint of this single-track line, its double-track configuration provides a passing loop to allow two trains to run on the line at any one time. The station was originally called Fambridge (with the code FAM) but this was changed to North Fambridge on 20 May 2007.

The Crouch and Roach Estuaries are a 1729 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) at the mouth of the Crouch and Roach rivers in Essex. The Crouch part of the SSSI stretches from near Battlesbridge to Foulness Island, and the Roach from Rochford to the junction with the Crouch. Part of the site is in the Mid-Essex Coast Special Protection Area under the EC Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, and a Ramsar wetland site of international importance. It is also part of the Essex Estuaries Special Area of Conservation. An area of 65 hectares is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust as the Lion Creek and Lower Raypits nature reserve and 8 hectares at Woodham Fen, both of which are managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust. A small area is also a geological SSSI, The Cliff, Burnham-on-Crouch.The site has salt marsh, intertidal mud, grazing marsh and a fresh water reservoir. The salt marsh has scarce species including lax-flowered sea-lavender and one-flowered glasswort. Rough grass has dense populations of the nationally scarce Roesel's bush-cricket. The site is internationally important for wintering dark-bellied brent geese, and nationally important for black-tailed godwits, shelducks and shoveller ducks. There are Red Data Book species of invertebrates such as the ground lackey moth.

Greensward Academy is a comprehensive school and academy for 11- to 18-year-olds, located in Hockley, Essex.Greensward has approximately 200 staff and 1450 students, including 260 in the sixth form. Its main feeder schools are Plumberow Primary School, Hockley Primary School, Westerings Primary School and Ashingdon Primary Academy, and also takes students from various other schools in the area.The 2011 inspection report states that "The academy has specialisms in science and applied learning and also has Leading Edge and Training School Status".

Ashingdon is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. It is located about 2.5 miles (4 km) north of Rochford and is 13 miles (21 km) southeast from the county town of Chelmsford. The village lies within Rochford District and the parliamentary constituency of Rayleigh. Ashingdon has a Parish Council. It is a rural parish, one of 14 parishes in Rochford District. The Parish is approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Rochford, and continues to the bank of the tidal River Crouch; the Parish includes the villages of Ashingdon and South Fambridge. Parts of Ashingdon Parish are within the village community of Hockley, and the northeast part of Hawkwell Parish is within the Ashingdon village community; they face each other along the length of Ashingdon Road, a Roman Road that is still used to this day. Ashingdon and South Fambridge have been in existence for more than one thousand years and both appear in the Domesday Book of 1086, along with the Manor of Beckney within Ashingdon Parish. According to the 2001 census, updated in 2004, the parish had 1222 dwellings and a population of 3165, increasing to 3,634 at the 2011 Census.

Magnolia Fields or Magnolia Park is a 9.7 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Hawkwell in Essex. It is owned by Rochford District Council and managed by Hawkwell Parish Council.The site is a former brickworks and evidence of its former activity is still visible, including a pond. There is a wide variety of birds, including bullfinches.There is access from Magnolia Road.

Marylands is a 3.7 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Hockley in Essex. It is owned by Rochford District Council and managed by Hockley Parish Council.The site has a varied fauna and flora, with 96 species of trees, shrubs, grasses and herbs, and 13 of butterflies. Nine of the tree species are associated with ancient woodland. There are woodland and farmland birds, and a stream with sticklebacks.The site is near Plumberow Road and there is full public access.

Hockley railway station is on the Shenfield to Southend Line in the East of England, serving the village of Hockley, Essex. It is 36 miles 1 chain (57.96 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Rayleigh to the west and Rochford to the east. The Engineer's Line Reference for the line is SSV; the station's three-letter station code is HOC. The two platforms have an operational length for 12-coach trains.

The Spa Pump Room is a Grade II listed, early Victorian building in Hockley, Essex. It was built to the designs of James Lockyer in 1842 after a medicinal spring was discovered on the site four years earlier. Short lived, the building closed as a pump room in the early 1850s and was used for other purposes thereafter, including a Baptist chapel, billiard hall, and a clothing factory; the pump room is now in private ownership.

Rayleigh and Wickford is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation by Mark Francois, a Conservative.