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Category: Essex

Wood, Water and Webbed feet.

Wood, Water and Webbed feet.

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A few days ago on a fine sunny day we went to see the autumn colours in Epping Forest. We didn’t do any heroic walks this time but just drove to a few different places to potter about.

Our first port of call was Connaught Water. There were lots of geese, ducks, moorhens and coots about and they tended to follow us, staying parallel to our path, in the hope of getting a free lunch. They were, unfortunately, out of luck.

We walked all the way around the lake and got this view on the other side.

Our web-footed friends were in luck with these people and certainly weren’t going to wait for lunch to come to them – now stop trying to push in and form an orderly queue.

We moved on to the High Beach area where we had a burger and a hot drink whilst sitting in the car. When we finished we walked into the forest where we came across these rather fine specimens of Ganoderma fungi.

Again this year Autumn seems to be rather late. We were hoping to see the Japanese Maples turning red but, no, they were still green. Ah well next year perhaps.

We shall leave (no pun intended) you with this last view of the forest.

We have seen the light!

We have seen the light!

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Today the lightship at Tollesbury was having an open day so we toddled off to have a look.

We arrived just in time for a cup of coffee and a piece of cake which was a good start. It turned out to be a very interesting tour from the bowels of the engine room to the big light way above the deck. We seemed to be going up one set of steps and down another most of the time.

Stairway

Most of these stairways were so steep it was actually easier going down backward. So down into the engine room we went – backward. It must have been a fun job down in the engine room in a stormy sea.

Stairway

These engines were not used to move the ship but to drive generators to power the light. These ships had no motive power of their own and were always towed into position and anchored.

The actual light looks, from the deck, like this:

Stairway

Climbing steps like these within the tower:

Stairway

gets us into the light housing itself with views like this:

Stairway

There are four separate lights within the housing, each with it’s own reflector and each facing a different point of the compass and thus covering 360 degrees.

Stairway

You can see that there isn’t really a lot of room in the main light housing and, being completely enclosed in glass it was a bit of a hothouse today.

Stairway

That trip was a bit unusual and very enjoyable. Now it must be time to split the main brace mustn’t it?

Salami and chips

Salami and chips

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Yesterday, Sunday 22nd July, I left home at 9:30 AM and drove to Thaxted where I had arranged to meet Antonello from Florence in Italy. He had been staying in Thaxted for 3 nights, having already been to Rye in Sussex, and was moving on to Long Melford in Suffolk to stay there for 3 nights before travelling up to Northumberland.

This was the first time that we had met and probably won't be the last as he comes over to Britain 2 to 3 times each year. I was going to drive him to Long Melford with a few stops on the way and we were going to make a day of it.

He was sitting outside Thaxted Guildhall in the sun when I arrived and I recognised him because I'd seen a picture of him on the web.

We weren't going straight to Long Melford and Antonello suggested Kersey so Kersey it was. We found our way through the back roads with a few stops to look at the map and, no, we weren't lost!

We stopped in the main street, 'The Street', as there isn't anywhere else. You cannot really 'walk round' Kersey as there are no other streets – it's a small village. It is really picturesque with the village running down each side of the small valley to the stream at the bottom which runs across the road to form a ford.

The church, quite a big one for such a small village, is perched on the valley top on one side of the village. There are plenty of pictures of Kersey already on the site.

After looking around, sorry, along Kersey we moved on to Lavenham. There are also pictures of Lavenham on the web site.

As the car park is near the church we started with the church then walked down Church Street into High Street and up to Market Lane on the corner of which is an old house where the gable end leans out in a most alarming way. Up Market Lane into The Square where we couldn't possibly miss The Guildhall and Little Hall.

We stopped for a light lunch in 'Sweetmeats' in Water Street after which we went on to Long Melford.

We first had to find Antonello's B&B and so asked a local, there seemed to be very few about on a Sunday, who didn't know where the road was. Nothing for it but to resort to technology! Out came the GPS navigation thingy and after entering the name of the village and road it gave us a street map with the relevant street shown – hooray!

After Antonello had put his luggage inside we went for a walk around Long Melford including the rather impressive church on the hill and Melford Hall (Tudor).

After this it was time for me to head back home so we said our goodbyes with the expectation that we would meet again. I certainly hope that we do. Antonello is a very pleasant young man and we both have a strong interest in Britain's heritage. Antonello took a couple of pictures of the two of us and has promised to let me have copies which I shall then post here.

A very good day.

Water, water and more water.

Water, water and more water.

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We headed north, today, over the county border, and the River Stour, and into Suffolk. Our destination was Pin Mill – a small waterside community on the River Orwell.

We drove as far as the village of Chelmondiston where we parked in the small, free, village car park. The walk down Pinmill Road was an easy one and we arrived at the riverside close by the Butt and Oyster Inn.

The tide was out when I took this picture and I imagine that with a very high tide this inn only just manages to keep it’s feet dry!

It was about time for morning coffee so we went in to the pub for coffee. The view from inside the bar across the river was very picturesque. Whilst we were drinking our coffee we noticed that their lunch menu had a very good range of dishes which sounded positively delightful but, unfortunately, we would have to leave before lunch for our next intended destination. I don’t know how good the food is but it certainly sounded nice.

After finishing our coffee we walked along the small hard which you can see next to the stream in the picture above and looked back to the Butt and Oyster.

After a walk round we set off up the lane back to the car but, part the way up, we met this fella walking by the side of the lane.

Isn’t he lovely? This is Britain’s largest beetle, a male Stag Beetle (Lucarnus cervus) which you won’t see very often. If this chap gives you the creeps then there is another piece of information which you should know – they can fly and do – frequently.

Amanda decided that he wasn’t terribly safe right next to the lane so she picked him up and put him on the verge.

We arrived back in Chelmondiston and set off in the car for our next waterside destination – Mistley back over the border in Essex.

The half mile stretch of road between Manningtree and Mistley runs alongside the River Stour and it is possible to stop anywhere by the roadside so that one can get out and look at the river which is over a half mile wide at this point.

The interesting point about this part of the river is the swans and it’s not just a few swans it’s a lot of swans. This is just some of them but there are more.

I spoke briefly to an Australian lady who said she’d never seen so many and why were they there? I wasn’t able to answer that question at the time but I can now. There are malting buildings by the river in Mistley where barley is malted in preparation for making beer and up to at least fifty years ago the barley was unloaded from barges at the quayside. The local swans soon realised that the barley which was spilled during this process was a constant source of food and there was obviously enough of it to support a large number of swans and so their numbers increased to form the colony here today.

We walked further into Mistley to look around and then made our way back to the car only to find an impolite lout strutting along the pavement as though he owned it!

He looked a bit put out when we walked past without so much as a ‘by your leave’.

Back to the car and we leave for our next, and last, destination – Harwich.

Harwich used to be a bustling, working port and a little on the rough side I think. Now, however, all the big stuff such as the international container ships and passenger liners have been moved around the corner to Parkeston Quay and Harwich has become a quiet, picturesque and interesting little town. If you are interested in things maritime then Harwich is the place for you and even if maritime history doesn’t hold you spellbound there is still plenty of interest.

There is remarkably little traffic in the town and there are narrow backstreets with many old buildings. There is lots to see on the waterfront including the Ha’penny Pier, Lighthouses and a Mayflower exhibition – the Mayflower was built in Harwich. This is me being friendly with a young lady I met inside the Mayflower Exhibition.

After Harwich it was back home. We enjoyed today very much and lots more photographs from this trip, together with many new pages, will eventually appear on the web site in due course. If you want to be notified about updates as soon as they appear then see the updates page.

Time and tide wait for no man

Time and tide wait for no man

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… and neither do barges. Today was the ‘Blackwater Barge Match’ and for those not in the know it’s a race between Thames Sailing Barges. These magnificent vessels are around 80 – 100 feet long and about 100 years old.

It takes place every year on the River Blackwater, near us, starting from just below Maldon and sailing out into the estuary. We were planning to go and watch them sail past and, as the race starts at 9:30 AM we didn’t have much time.

Amanda was complaining that I might compromise the whole expedition because I wanted breakfast first but we did have breakfast first and then set off for Tollesbury where we intended to walk to the river. The walk should take about 20 minutes and we should get to the river just as the barges were passing.

We set off on the walk and as the river came into view we could see the tops of many masts, with sails, coming down the river. We couldn’t see the lower parts of the vessels because they were obscured by the sea wall.

We did get to the river in time and climbed up onto the top of the sea wall to see the first barges of a total of about 14 going past.

We were observed, from a safe distance, by some interested parties who seemed to be curious about what we were doing.

Amanda wanted to take some pictures of her own.

We walked along the sea wall in the same direction that the barges were going although they were going faster than us and eventually they all went past heading out into the estuary. What a lovely sight!

We walked along the wall until we picked up another footpath which would take us back into Tollesbury. On the way we managed to disturb a Heron which flew off over the marshes and saw a number of Common Mallow plants.

A little later,nearer Tollesbury, we found a small group of Poppies.

All in all a nice little trip.

Trans-Atlantic friends

Trans-Atlantic friends

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Last friday we had arranged to meet an American couple, who were staying in London, at our local station at around 10:00 AM in order to take them round some of our local places of interest.

Joe and Carolyn were from Oregon and the local countryside here reminded them somewhat of home. It was their first visit to this country and today was their first experience of English country roads. They were particularly interested in the roads because, in a few days time, they will be travelling by train to North Wales where they will be hiring a car.

I think that they were a little surprised at how narrow the roads were in places and that the hedges were 'wing mirror clipping' close!

Our first stop was Coggeshall which is only about 3 miles from the station. We walked from the little local car park up towards the church where we saw the 15th century Woolpack Inn which was built before Columbus discovered America.

Then, as it was literally next door, we looked around the 15th century church.

Walking back down Church Street we stopped to examine and admire various old buildings such as this timber-framed house of jettied construction and with oriel windows.

Having walked to the bottom of Church Street we walked up West Street to have a look at Coggeshall's most famous building – Paycockes.

You'd have to go a long way to see another 16th century house this good. We walked, from here, up Grange Street to Grange Barn which was built around 1140 for the Cistercian Abbey of which little else remains.

Crossing the road into Abbey Lane we walked along to see what remains of the abbey (not much) and then on the public footpath across the fields to East Street.

Again there were plenty of interesting buildings and features to stop and look at including a house with an intricately carved beam with the date 1585 carved into it.

It was nearly lunchtime by now so we went back to the Woolpack Inn for lunch. They have a good selection of meals there and I think that we can all vouch for the fact that they were very tasty.

After lunch it was back to the car and on to Thaxted via Great Bardfield. As we drove into Thaxted and turned right to go to the car park we caught a glimpse of things to come.

After parking the car we walked past the church down Watling Street into the town centre where we had a good look at the Guildhall.

Then up the little lane to the right of the Guildhall, Stoney Lane, where we saw Dick Turpin's cottage. Dick Turpin was an infamous highway robber and, so I understand, a nasty piece of work!

Stoney Lane leads into the churchyard so we had a look at the church. This is an amazingly impressive church for a small market town. Joe was particularly interested in some marquetry inlay in the pulpit and he had plans for producing something similar when he got home – I wish him luck. I wouldn't have a chance of doing anything like that.

We walked from the church to the windmill going past some thatched cottages on the way. We had seen numerous thatched cottages on the way here but this was the first time Joe and Carolyn had been able to see thatch at close quarters. The tower mill that we were going to see was the first windmill they had seen. This picture shows Amanda, Carolyn and Joe wondering whether they will end up with severely strained necks.

It is sometimes open to the public but, unfortunately, today was not one of those times.

Back to the car and on to Finchingfield where we stopped for a much needed cup of coffee or in Amanda's case – tea. After refreshments we walked round to have a look at the post mill – a different type of windmill from the one we'd seen at Thaxted.

There were also a number of thatched cottages clustered around this part of Finchingfield – very pretty.

We walked back across the village green to the car.

It was getting a bit late but I thought we would have time to go via Castle Hedingham to get a glimpse of their first medieval castle. When we got there all we could see, because of tree cover, was a little bit of the top of the Keep. We then had to leave for the station and because the rush-hour traffic slowed us down somewhat we managed to miss their train by about 4 minutes. Luckily there was another train in about 40 minutes.

We thought that Joe and Carolyn were really lovely people and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and I hope that they did too.

Feelin’ Blue

Feelin’ Blue

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On April the 5th last I mentioned that we had been to a number of local woods to look for Wood Anemones and one of those woods was Shut Heath Wood. Today we went back to that wood to look for Bluebells.

Need I say more?