Special places

 

What can this be?  We pass several of these on the way to our chosen parking place to start our daily walk for exercise under lockdown.

If we are lucky, as we were today, we see at least a few of these trotting about or grazing at the edge of the woodlands.

In the heat of summer, now long gone, we discovered this pool, spring-fed and so always full, unlike other watering holes which simply dried up and disappeared.  Then, we sat and watched as several varieties of dragonfly - ruddy darters and Imperators - hovered over the water.  One day we were privileged to see a kingfisher on patrol.  For three days he was resident at the poolside and then moved on. 

 Yesterday we were delighted to see a grey wagtail making the place his own.  He hopped up and down branches, hovered awkwardly down on to the leaf layer on the water, then took a leisurely preen, quite oblivious to our presence on the bank.  He is there in that picture.

Can you see him now - he's right in the centre, well-camouflaged because his plumage fits exactly with the leaves.

This was the weather first thing today - bright and sunny but with a hard frost and a chill to the air.

And what was that at the top of the page?  It was a sugar-beet mountain.  It has been the crop of choice around here this year, and will be taken off in huge lorries to Bury St Edmunds to be processed into sugar.  The churned up state of some of the fields has to be seen to be believed.

A bit of knitting

 A trio of bears, knitted basically to the Comfort Bear pattern.  I've worked out that it is possible to knit the bear reducing as many seams as possible. So two legs stitched together to make the lower half then knit up the body cast on extra stitches for the sleeves.  Put those on hold while knitting up and over the head, then put them back on the needles for the back.  Eventually you have a top half and a bottom half which you seam together around the waist. The grey bear was knitted this way. 

And a trio of Izzy dolls, knitted with a brown skin colour as requested by the charity.

And some clusters of fingerless mitts, using up odds and ends of yarn.

All of these have now been posted off to Knit for Peace, where there have been specific requests for these items.

I knit more when I am anxious as I find it helps.

Maldon

 

A little drive to our afternoon exercise: the historic town of Maldon.  The town itself is up a steep hill, but this is the curious section called the Promenade Park where tidal river meets a kind of seaside atmosphere.

Out on the exposed mudflats were many birds, happily foraging - a little egret.

A godwit.  We were within yards of these birds but they took no notice as no one would venture out on that mud.

Atmospheric images of ancient boats pulled up and left to decay.

We could not understand, viewing it from the other side, why the Yacht Club headquarters had such a list on it, but from behind it is clear that it is mounted on a barge.

Out on the end of the promenade, a statue to Brythnoth, leader of the Brits against the Vikings at the Battle of Maldon.  Good luck fighting in that mud

The sunshine had gone by this point, but we were cheered by the change of scene from our usual walks.  We'll be visiting again.

Planning trips to Essex.

 Wonderful idea, Maureen - planning some fantasy travel, which may or may not be possible in a post-Covid world.  

So, what would you need to know about Essex and where the best walking is to be found?  First, Essex is  very large county - in UK terms, that is - and more diverse than some English regions.  South Essex is really outer London.  North Essex runs up to the Suffolk border and is much more rural, with historic villages, such as the one I live in, and ancient woodlands.  There is an extensive coastline, but you are mostly talking marshland and mud.  There are tidal estuaries where mud is a big feature too.

From a centre such as Colchester you would be well-placed to explore both the coastal areas and the North Essex/ South Suffolk border.  Colchester has a castle with a Roman museum - an unparalleled collection of Roman artefacts.  You could drive north to Dedham and walk along the river to Flatford Mill, much painted by John Constable.  Or you could watch the tide tables and go across the causeway to Mersea island to see birds in season.

A number of long and short footpaths are on offer.  In fact, we almost always just drive a couple of miles north, park up and walk in the woodlands on public rights of way.  This is really important at this time of year as Essex is very flat in general and the field paths can be impassable with wet mud.

http://www.gps-routes.co.uk/routes/home.nsf/county-walks/Essex  This is a site which lists a range from the 85 mile Essex Way to much shorter strolls. Room for much fantasy planning here.

A short drive will take you to the famous villages of Lavenham and Long Melford - historic wool towns with spectacular churches and many ancient buildings.  Sudbury, a small market town, still has four working silk mills and is well worth a visit.  These are in Suffolk, of course, but are very similar in character to Coggeshall, the Essex village where I live.  Here the must-see is Paycocke's House, home of Thomas Paycocke, the wool merchant who built it in 1508.  The carvings inside and out are spectacular.

Mind you, I'm not sure that I would announce to friends that I was holidaying in Essex.  The county has acquired a reputation for being brash and vulgar - there's a reality tv show called "The Only Way is Essex".  I've never seen it, but, like others of its kind, it features girls heavy on false eyelashes and boys who have spent too long in the gym.  North Essex is more rural: Wellington boots are a good choice of footwear here.