South Woodham Ferrers Library

South Woodham Ferrers Library sits in a modern, planned town about six miles south of Maldon - the sort of place you'd drive through without thinking twice if not for a specific reason to stop. Inside, though, it's a proper community hub rather than a dusty repository of old books. The library serves the town well with a solid collection, decent IT facilities, and a calm atmosphere that makes it a good refuge if you've had enough of the Essex seaside for an afternoon.

It's not a destination attraction, to be frank. You're not travelling forty minutes out of your way to browse the Essex collection. But if you're staying at nearby Stuarts Wood Campsite and it's bucketing down rain - which it often does in this corner of England - a couple of hours here beats sitting in a caravan watching the clouds. Families with younger children will find a children's section, and there's usually a decent selection of audiobooks and DVDs if you're after something to take back to the pitch.

The town itself is fairly characterless modern development, all ring roads and retail parks. Maldon, the proper working harbour town, is much more worth your time - better for a walk, better for lunch, better for actually remembering you went somewhere. Use the library on a wet day, not as your main activity.