A jolly group of Pang Valley Ramblers gathered near Colchester for our Autumn break in early October as organised by Sue and Gordon Spires. Sue and Gordon had found us a well sited Hotel in Marks Tey on the outskirts of Colchester. There was quite a confluence of alarmingly busy roads round the station but pedestrians were well catered for with footbridges and pelican crossings.
For our first walk on Sunday afternoon we took the bus to the centre of Colchester. I must have bypassed Colchester many times but never visited. I was pleasantly surprised by our tour. It’s an historic town dating back at least to Roman times when it was a capital city. There is Wide variety of architecture ranging from Roman city gates in brick, stone and tile to the modern art gallery, an interestingly shaped building covered in what seemed to be rusty steel. The side streets contained many different styles of building with impressive public buildings in the centre. Sue and Gordon’s tour guided us around the local highlights including “Jumbo” – a monster monument to Victorian bricklaying, actually a water tower, and easily visible from wide around. We returned independently and met later In the bar for a convivial evening including dinner in the hotel restaurant.
Monday was fine after some heavy rain over the weekend and we set off by train to Manningtree to walk round Constable country. The walk took us across fields and the River Stour – the border between Essex and Suffolk, and in not much over an hour we arrived at the rural idyll of Constable’s Flatford Mill with its picturesque mill pond and assorted wild fowl. There was also a welcome National Trust Café for refreshments. Lunch was at the excellent Sun Inn in Dedham where our pre ordered lunches were delicious and the beer sipped down all too easily. Jolly and cosy – highly recommended. From Dedham we walked back across the fields to Manningtree for the train back to Marks Tey. I think of Essex as flat, though not as flat as Norfolk, but the walk included some lovely rural valley views.
Tuesday was not so fine with a walk from the hotel via the station to some field paths treacherously muddy from overnight rain. We resorted to country roads where we could which were relatively quiet with much less risk of slipping over. A local farmer was selling apples from a roadside shed – not quite the much lamented Cross Lanes orchard at Mapledurham but selling some interesting varieties none the less. Our walk took us to the railway station at Chappel and Wakes Colne for lunch at the East Anglian Railway Museum, but not before passing under the magnificent Chappel Viaduct. This is an impressive structure of 32 arches, 75 feet tall constructed of 7 million locally made bricks, another monument to bricklayers. A good lunch was provided by the museum and eaten in their fifies railway carriage parked in the station platform. Some of the group walked on to the terminus of the line at Sudbury, taking the train back to Marks Tey at the end of the walk. I took the train back after lunch to tackle the M25 in daylight.
Our grateful thanks go to Sue and Gordon Spires for organising the break including selecting our comfortable hotel, mastering the local public transport, arranging the lunches, and providing interesting walks with alternative routes for all abilities. A welcome break.
George