In 2025, James Lawrence – known as Man About Country – embarked on an epic 400km walk over 21 days around his home county of Essex.
The goal was to discover the places, people and stories of Essex and prove that it is one of the most fascinating counties in England. The more of these stories we discover, the closer we get to the true soul of Essex: the myths at the heart of this great county.
Along the way James recorded the stories of local people to preserve in the Essex Sound and Video archive. This feature-length documentary follows his journey.
This project would not have been possible without the generous support of Essex Arts and Cultural Fund.
Contains mild language.
source
Amazing work, the end got me there, my mum is moving from my childhood home in essex, I have been taking alot of these pathways before she moves, hadleigh in particular, I go too bradwell alot, love that chapel. My partner is from Kent, and he also looked across and reflected on his bad times. Really enjoyed this.
Great video, I hope you may write a book about this journey and the stories from the people you met along the way, cheers from Andrew in Ottawa Canada 🇨🇦
I’m walking the Essex way at the moment. Walked from White Notley to Great Tey today.
great film! what is missing is the historic tales, spooky and local stories that you gathered along the way: Essex is so much more and we know it 👌🏻
Great film – loved watching it.
This is amazing ❤
Well Done James loved watching the film at the premiere and we hope to join you on a walk soon
Been waiting for this! Great work!
Absolutely superb. Great content and fabulous editing. Well done to you both. Very proud to be an Essex Girl.