What's on inEssex

From the 'wideboys and 'Essex Girls of recent jokes to years of snobbery from the rest of the UK, Essex has suffered from something of an image problem for some time now.

This is a shame, because the region itself matches any other county in England for variety; Essex offers everything from beautiful landscape to historic towns and buildings, and from cultural attractions to quiet medieval villages to well, yes, the 'kiss 'n cuddle of Southend on Sea.

Get past the stereotype and there is a region waiting to be discovered and which should be as lauded as some of the more famous tourism destinations across the UK.

One of the home-counties, Essex sits on the Thames and looks out on the North Sea.

It is to the north-east of Greater London and borders Hertfordshire to the west, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north.

The Essex landscape varies greatly making for some wonderful scenery, from jagged coastline and low salt marshes and streams to gently undulating pastoral countryside and farmland populated by sheep and cows.

The rural land that borders Suffolk is quite beautiful and the landscape offers up views recognizable from a number of famous Constable paintings.

Essex is one of the oldest counties and was at one time part of the East Saxon Kingdom.

Originally held by the Trinovantes tribe, Essex was the first region to be taken over by the Romans in 43 AD and Colchester is the oldest recorded town in Britain.

Consequently the region offers a wealth of archaeological riches - in particular the Roman remains of Colchester, capital of the province of Britannia.

Colchester Castle has an extensive exhibition on Roman Colchester and there are remains of a unique Roman Circus in the city.

There are also an astonishing 14,000 buildings with listed building status in Essex and those worth visiting include Colchester Castle, Hylands House, Audley House, Thaxted Guildhall, Hedingham Castle and the 7th century Saxon Church of St. Peter-on-the-Wall.

From its gentle seaside resorts to gaudy Southend, and from Epping Forest to Waltham Abbey to the elegant county town of Chelmsford, Essex is a charming corner of England offering history, beauty, culture and, yes, a little bit of slap and tickle.