A Walk: From Beautiful To Ugley

> We parted yesterday on a lovely path descending to the village of Quendon. Perhaps now would be a good time to tell you that we're in an area known as "The Hundred Parishes". It has no official status but is the brainchild of a society set up to promote this beautiful area. It covers 450 square miles of the best of Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Essex's ancient countryside and has over 1,000 miles of footpaths. We've been to parts of the area before, of course, around Linton, Thaxted, Much Hadham......

The main street through the village was busy with traffic so I quickly sought out the lane to the church.

Churches with little wooden bell-towers like this are found commonly in a band running through Hertfordshire and Essex, though I can't recall a single one in Cambridgeshire. It's strange how you find these little variations across the country. 

Evidently people in Quendon are not such early risers as those at Rickling and the church was still locked.

The path I chose from here ran alongside a strip of woodland. A few oak trees were still valiantly hanging on to their leaves, despite it being December. One walk guide says, of a walk that coincides for a short while with the route we're taking, that this particular path has views across the M11 valley: since when did motorways start appropriating valleys from rivers? >

Soon I was leaving the wood behind and crossing a field to the next village....

Oh, yes! That wasn't a typo in the title; we really are going to a village called Ugley!

The church isn't ugly though, quite attractive in fact. It's called St Peter's and I rather hoped to find a notice board that said "St Peter's Ugley", but was disappointed

The rest of the village had some quaint-looking cottages too.

From the church I found myself wandering through a farmyard, though I'm not certain I was supposed to be there. I took a couple of pictures though I thought it best not to hang about.

In a way I was rather hoping a friendly farmer might appear as there was a lot of very ancient equipment lying around just waiting to be photographed. On the other hand if I was trespassing.......

There were a few buildings too that were well past their "best before" date. I suppose you could call those "ugly" though I rather like to photograph them.

We've done about five miles so far and I thought that the rest of the walk would be less interesting, it certainly appeared so on the map. Little did I know how lovely it would be. Will you be coming with me?


Take care.

A Walk: From Peacock Tail To Rook End

On December 9th I went out on a walk in the North Essex countryside. I've been showing you the photos over the last three days. If you want to catch up you can do so here:

This fine fellow was strutting his stuff near to a place marked on the map as Mole Hall, though unless you are extremely tall and nosey you might never see the Hall as it's hidden behind a high wall.

Ah, there it is! A magnificent old farmhouse standing within its huge moat. These moats are fairly common around large old farms and manor houses and served a practical purpose as well as scenic value. They would have been stocked with fish which supplemented the diet during the winter months. Also a large supply of water would be needed for the farm animals. And the notion of an Englishman's home being his castle also gave such dwellings enormous prestige.

Just across the lane, behind another high wall, is Swayne's Hall, rather less posh with just a big pond outside.

Although I had a day off work the labours of the fields continued without pause. They were taking advantage of this fine, settled period of weather to spray our food with delicious chemicals. The operator very considerately ceased his work while I passed by.

I often read blogs from North America which frequently feature pictures of old barns very like the one above. In this part of England there are few isolated structures standing in the fields, everything usually being concentrated near to the farmhouse. 

A little further along I came to a small cluster of cottages known as Rook End. This neat little sports car was standing nearby and has clearly not been used for a while.

Beyond Rook End I found a wonderful little bit of country. I love it when that happens - on the map it doesn't look very promising but when actually there everything conspires to create something a bit special.

The path ran parallel to a tiny stream cutting a steep-sided little valley through a strip of woodland. I crunched about through the leaves for a bit, seeking out possible photographs. Suddenly it occurred to me that, though my walk was nearly completed, I was still carrying my sandwiches. I soon found a comfy tree-stump to sit on.

There I was munching away and wondering why no one else was here enjoying this magical little place. Suddenly a small, energetic terrier came scurrying towards me. Then I heard a shrill whistle and the little dog was gone. Clearly I was not as alone as I'd thought!

There's just a short distance to go now. See you tomorrow.


Take care.

A Walk: From Motorway To Byway

We're leaving the village of Ugley, which wasn't ugly. "Pretty Ugley" you could call it! But now we have to cross the M11 motorway which is a lot less attractive. Luckily there's a bridge for us to pass under so we don't have to risk our lives. Then we turn off our minor road to an even more minor road, though we're not clear of the twenty-first century just yet.

The road that we're following is one of those that gradually peters out; road becomes lane, the lane becomes a track, the track becomes little more than a path. Two cars passed me in the space of a minute but then nothing else. Must have been the rush-hour!

On the right hand side of the road, as I walked up it, there's what appears to be a ditch flowing with clear water. In fact it's the headwaters of the River Cam on its way to Cambridge and thence to the North Sea. We're going to follow it almost up to its source.

The track goes as far as the farm up ahead. It's so quiet up here that it's hard to realise that big trucks are thundering along the motorway just a couple of miles away. 

Some of the farm buildings have seen better days, though other parts of the operation seemed modern and efficient.

The path was far from smooth and efficient though! Actually after this tricky section the conditions underfoot improved and I was able to wander along taking notice (and photographs) of all the little details that enrich such a walk.

The mild autumn we've had this year means that we're still in the fungi season. I'm pretty certain that these are Shaggy Ink Caps, though fungi are notoriously difficult to identify. (See Louise's comment below for a more informed opinion).

A fallen log in the "river"  reminded me of an elephant! I must be getting tired to start hallucinating this early in the day.

These are the berries of a plant called Black Bryony climbing up in clockwise spirals. A welcome splash of colour in the hedgerows.

These I really can't identify. They were growing on a rotten tree stump beside the path.

A small flock of sheep in a field - a rare sight in the arable lands of East Anglia these days. On the map I can see we're getting near to places called Mole Hall and Swaynes Hall, but they'll have to wait till tomorrow.

How's the old feet? I'm taking this walk very slowly for you. I hope you're enjoying some of the variety to be found in this little corner of England. See you tomorrow.


Take care.

A Walk: From Darkness To Light

December 9th, 2015, was a gloriously clear, sunny day in East Anglia so I pulled on my rapidly disintegrating boots to go out for a walk. I'd had this walk in reserve for a while, just waiting for the right day. It turned out to be a rich and varied walk, so won't you join me now for the first instalment?

It was dark when I left home to walk down to the railway station. A few stars and a thin sliver of moon showed that already the sky was clear. From the train window Addenbrooke's Hospital was lit up like an ocean liner moored on the outskirts of Cambridge. By the time I'd boarded another train and was heading out towards Newport (the place in Essex, not the one in Wales!) the sky was starting to lighten in the east.

Scarcely out of Newport, right next to the M11 motorway, I encountered the first wonder of the day. Not that many people would realise what this little barn in a field might be....

This is actually St Helen's Chapel, one of the oldest buildings in the East of England dating from the 11th, or possibly even the 10th century. Understandably it's needed a bit of patching up from time to time and has been neglected for long periods while being used as a barn. Nowadays it's a chapel once more and a service is held each year.

From the chapel I took a farm track through woodland and fields towards the church at Rickling. There's very little left of the village which presumably stood here in the past and the church stands in open country with just a few houses nearby.

I'd have liked to have seen inside but it was still only about 08:35 in the morning so it was without much hope that I went to try the door.

Open Sesame! The keyholder must either be a farmer or someone who has to commute to work; you don't usually find churches open before at least nine o'clock. It's so nice outside that I don't want to spend too long in the church, but lets have a quick look around....

A very nice window which an information board tells me was a memorial to a former vicar. But the thing that immediately caught my eye was the reredos, a carved panel behind the altar.

It depicts the adoration of the lamb and was carved in Belgium and brought here in the nineteenth century. I felt somebody was watching me...

There was also some wonderfully rustic carving on the screen which looked a good deal older than the reredos.

Then it was outside once more to continue my walk. A rather dull track alongside an arable field led me to a tiny footbridge, where suddenly the path changed character.

The other side of the bridge there were meadows, thick hedge rows and trees. Almost certainly this land was used for pheasant-shooting. Although the birds can live almost anywhere they thrive best in an "old-fashioned" sort of landscape. While I don't enjoy seeing defenceless birds being blasted out of the skies I can't deny that land managed for them is also beneficial to other wildlife.

And now I have to make my way to the next village of Quendon. 

See you tomorrow.


Take care.

A Walk: From Church 4 To Platform 2

We finished last time loitering in a magical little wood just north of the hamlet of Rook End. Although you'd never guess it we're very close to Debden church, we just have a short walk alongside an arable field.

Long shadows were already being thrown by the low winter sun, even though it was only early afternoon. 

St Mary the Virgin and All Saints, Debden, is the fourth church we've passed today and stands a little apart from the village in its beautifully tranquil churchyard. Unfortunately there were builders working inside the church so I'll have to look inside on another occasion. It's a rather unusual structure in that it's quite a grand building but with a rather modest wooden spire; old pictures show it with an elegant steeple.

Down a narrow path I came across this disused building though what it is remains rather a mystery. It's the sort of time when you hope an old man, wearing Wellington boots and pushing his bicycle, will appear around the corner and tell you the complete history of the building, the whole village and what he got up to when he was a young lad. But, alas, no rustic sage was on hand. The building stands by a small stream but there was no evidence that water-power was part of the story. It's called "barn" on some maps but doesn't really look like one. If I had to hazard a guess......no, I really don't know.

Quite close by is what appears to be an ornamental lake, not an unusual feature on old estates.

My path then climbed up on a rough track through woodland and there, right at the edge of the wood was this strange little building which might be a some sort of shooting lodge. Again I really don't know.

Leaving the wood the view ahead shows the open arable country that's characteristic of large parts of East Anglia. The track to the right would lead me towards Waldegraves Farm.

These big round bales, with their plastic wrapping blowing in the wind,  made an unusual subject for my camera. They may well contain "haylage", a high-quality, low-moisture kind of silage made especially for feeding horses, as there is an equestrian business based at the farm.

The farm itself looked a prosperous, modern business (though you'll never get a farmer to admit that he's prosperous). On the other hand, as my father frequently pointed out "You never see a farmer riding a bike".

A long, downhill track then led me back to Newport, where I had started from some six hours and twelve and a half miles before. The path featured many of those wonderful, but often unphotographable, wide far-reaching panoramas that both thrill and frustrate the photographer in equal measure.

When I get to Newport, I thought, I'll spend some time exploring the area. When I got to Newport though I jumped straight on the first train to take me home. 

Walker's Log:

    Start: Newport, Essex 08.00
    End: Newport, Essex 14.10
    Distance walked: 12.5 miles (20 Km)
    Notable birds: Buzzard, Skylark, Bullfinch, flock of Fieldfares, flock of Yellowhammers.
    Mammals: Rabbit, Grey Squirrel. 
    Churches: Rickling, Quendon, Ugley, Debden. Also St Helen's Chapel at Wicken Bonhunt.
    People with dogs: 10
    Dogs with people: 14
    People just enjoying a walk: 0
    Cyclists: 2, one very sensibly pushing her bike up a hill!
    Horse riders: 0

I hope you've enjoyed the walk. I presented it in this way - 12.5 miles spread over 5 posts - to emphasise just how much there is to see in these overcrowded islands. I could easily have found more if I'd had a mind to; I didn't really explore Quendon or Debden and I by-passed Widdington entirely, to say nothing of Newport. I saw quite a few birds, but don't have the equipment to photograph them for you. Undoubtedly at other times of year there'd be many wild flowers to show you. I hope that those reading this blog will begin to realise that though this landscape may lack some of the glory of other parts of the world, no mountains, spectacular coast or even extreme weather, it's rich with history and interest. More story than glory!


Take care.