Finchingfield playground

One of those proper village playgrounds that still feels like it belongs to the community rather than a council brochure. It’s set right in Finchingfield, which is already one of the prettier spots in Braintree, so the surroundings do a lot of the work. The accessibility here is worth flagging — it’s set up for kids of all abilities, which you don’t always get in smaller village setups. Nothing flashy, but that’s kind of the point.