Local Life

Chelmsford City has a range of shopping and sport facilities for everyone of different ages. Whether you fancy doing a little bit of retail therapy in one of the two shopping centres or sit down and relax and one of the restaurants, the busy City has it all!

If you are feeling adventurous you can try ice-skating or ice-hockey at Riverside Leisure Centre, or if you want to take a stroll in one of the parks, there’s plenty to choose from.

Shopping

Chelmsford City Centre has everything that you will need for an unforgettable shopping experience. Not one, but two shopping centres sit within the pedestrianised High Street, bursting with both big brand names and small independent shops that should cater for your every need. There is also a wide selection of restaurants, cafés and pubs to help you relax and refuel before, after, or during your College break.

Shopping Centres

Chelmsford City centre is home to two shopping centres – High Chelmer and The Meadows.

High Chelmer is a large shopping hub home to over 80 outlets, including Boots, CEX, HMV, New Look, Primark, Superdry, and The Body Shop (it also has a Tottenham HotSpur shop for all you Spurs supporters!). If you get hungry, there are many cafés and restaurants to choose from, including Greggs, Queenies Coffee Shop and Little Lotus. If you need a rest after shopping, there is plenty of space to stop and relax on the benches dotted throughout too.

High Chelmer

The Meadows shopping centre sits between the river Can and Chelmer and is home to over 40 stores and restaurants, including Wilko, The Works, Millie’s Cookies, Burger King and Kaspa’s Desserts. You’ll also find the eight-screen Odeon cinema there to fulfil your entertainment needs too.

The Meadows

The newest addition to the shopping hubs is Bond Street. It is an up-market, open-air shopping and eatery location and features shops and restaurants such as John Lewis, Schuh, Jack Wills, Wagamama and Las Iguanas. It also features a five-screen Everyman cinema, which aims to provide a luxury experience to a cinema trip.

Bond Street

Chelmsford High Street

Linking the shopping centres together is Chelmsford High Street. It is only a short walk from Chelmsford College Moulsham Street and Princes Road Campuses and you’ll find stores such as Lush, Poundland, Paperchase and Claire’s. There are many more eateries to find down there too, including Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Subway, Pret a Manger, Caffè Nero and Fancy Fry – just to name a few!

Chelmsford High Street also hosts an Outdoor Market on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It features local traders selling goods such as fruit and veg, flowers and plants, cheese and fish.

Outdoor Market

Park and Ride

There are two Park and Ride services in Chelmsford – Sandon and Chelmer Valley. You can park your vehicle at either site and travel into Chelmsford using the Park and Ride bus.

The nearest bus stop to Chelmsford College Moulsham Street Campus and Princes Road Campus on both the Sandon and Chelmer Valley Park and Ride is Mildmay Car Park.

Bus Stop

Sport

Do you love fitness and keeping active? Or do you prefer to keep fitness more casual? Whatever your fitness ability may be, Chelmsford City has a wide range of excellent facilities and sporting clubs to cater to each individual and their fitness levels.

Riverside Ice & Leisure

Riverside Ice & Leisure Centre offers a 25m x 10 lane main pool and a 10m x 10m learner pool, two exercise studios and bookable exercise classes, an ice-rink, 130 station gym, creche, two changing places, and a spin studio. There is also accessible changing and accessible parking.

Riverside Ice & Leisure

Credit: Be Inspired Media

Parks

Chelmsford is home to many parks and recreational fields, and luckily, both of our campuses are within a 30-minute walk from a couple of them.

Oaklands Park is only a few minutes walk away from our Moulsham Street campus and a 10-minute walk from our Princes Road campus. The park covers approximately 12 acres and has an on-site café which serves sandwiches, cakes, and drinks. You can also find Chelmsford Museum and Essex Regiment Museum there if you fancy a little day out too.

Oaklands Park

Central Park is located in the heart of Chelmsford City Centre and is one of the oldest parks in Chelmsford. The park also includes other green spaces such as Central Park Memorial Gardens, Frank Whitmore Place, Bell Meadow and Sky Blue Pasture. At the park, you can enjoy riverside walks, a model railway, a lake, a skateboard ramp, tennis courts, a multi-use games area and table tennis. It is only a 15-minute walk away from our Moulsham Street campus and a 20-minute walk from our Princes Road campus.

Central Park

West Park is home to a range of facilities including a café, an 18-hole pitch and putt, 9-hole crazy golf and foot golf. It is a 20-minute walk from our Moulsham Street campus and a 25-minute walk from our Princes Road campus.

Gyms

In Chelmsford, there are a range of gyms to suit your lifestyle and interests. There is Dovedale Sports Centre – which is part of our Moulsham Street campus – so is perfect for an after-class workout and in Chelmsford City Centre, you can find other health and fitness clubs including PureGym, Virgin Active, and Nuffield Health, just to name a few.

Gyms

Credit: Be Inspired Media

Other sports

There are a range of sports clubs in the local area including football, rugby, ice-skating, ice-hockey, cricket and tennis clubs. There is also a ten-pin bowling alley in the Centre for a fun day-out with friends and family and a number of golf courses for a more relaxed activity.

Sports for All! View sport enrichment activities