Organisation Type: Local Info

Oxney Green Park Playground

Written by Justine on Tuesday, 4th August 2026.

The play area at Oxney Green Park Playground is enclosed. The playground is suitable for children up to 12 years. Amongst the equipment, there is a climbing frame, basket swing and roundabout. There is also a basketball court, outdoor gym, petanque terrain and football goals in the park.

Petanque

Written by Justine on Tuesday, 4th August 2026.

The pétanque terrain in Oxney Green Park was installed in 2026. Petanque is a very sociable game and is accessible for all.

What You Need:

– 2 teams (1 to 3 players per team)

– 3 boules per player (2 boules if in a team of 3)

– 1 small target ball, called the jack (or ‘cochonnet’)

How to Play:

Toss a coin to decide which team starts.
Draw a circle on the ground (or use a plastic ring). Stand in it to throw.
A player throws the jack 6 to 10 meters away.
The same player throws a boule close to the jack.
A player from the other team tries to throw a boule closer (or knock the other away).
Teams take turns throwing until all boules are used. The team not closest keeps throwing.
Score 1 point for each boule closer to the jack than the opponent’s nearest.
The team who scored starts the next round from where the jack landed.
The first team to reach 13 points wins!

Tips & Terms:

– Boules are usually thrown underarm and lobbed, not rolled.

– ‘Pointing’ means throwing close to the jack.

– ‘Shooting’ means knocking the opponent’s boule away.

– Jack = also called ‘cochonnet’ or ‘little pig’.

– A 0 to 13 loss is called being ‘Fannied’.

Petanque is easy to learn, great fun for all ages, and perfect for social or competitive play!

ARU Writtle Parkrun

Written by wpc-clerk on Monday, 20th July 2026.

ARU Writtle parkrun launched in December 2025 and takes place every Saturday at 9am on the fields and paths at the rear of the Anglia Ruskin University College grounds on Lordship Road, Writtle.

The weekly (Saturday) event is a free, volunteer- focused community walking/running event and one of around 1000 such weekly events in the UK!

The event format is 5KM (3.12 miles) in length and takes place on beautiful Anglia Ruskin University land, including the main path to Cow Watering Lane and around the lake passing fields and paddocks full of horses and sheep!

There’s loads of free car parking and toilets on site and we are hopeful of refreshments being available really soon!

We are really keen to identify anyone who would be interested in getting involved in one of a number of volunteer roles on offer including Marshalling, time keeping, barcode scanning, handing out finish tokens and much more! Full training is given and will only take a minute or two!

Come and join the parkrun ‘family’ of volunteers. Our attendees always remark on how friendly the event and our volunteers are. You will always be welcome!

We have our own website where more information can be found: https://www.parkrun.org.uk/aruwrittle/

And our event e-mail address is aruwrittle@parkrun.com

We look forward to seeing attendees soon!

Leigh Norris and Greg Deacon

Co Event Directors