WALK REPORT This was the second trial of my Tiptree cream tea walk. Still needs work to improve the route. Parts of Kelvedon are pretty, but the section from there to Tiptree lacks interest. Also, it’s a real shame that the old church at Inworth is kept locked – most of the country churches I pass on my other walks are open to the public, but not this one. Thanks to Anne and Cristina for help with trailblazing.

1. Here we are just off the train at Kelvedon, crossing the footbridge over the tracks into town.

2. First stop: the chemists in Kelvedon. Cristina needed to pick up some sun cream – it was that nice out!

3. Eternity, by Jesus Christ. Chee-zee! Propaganda outside the Kelvedon United Reformed Church. Underneath, it reads “It’s for you, it’s for me, it’s for everyone!” Oy veh.

4. And here’s the original. Cristina happened to have some on her.

5. Sign outside a shop on the High Street in Kelvedon. ‘MBHI’ means Mr Papworth is a member of the British Horological Institute.

6. More High Street scenes. This florist had an amazing display out front.

7. Leaving town now, crossing the River Blackwater. This is the old flour mill on the edge of Kelvedon.

8. A rusting farm wagon mired in the mud at Ewell Hall.

9. Which way do we go? Contradictory footpath signs on the way to Inworth.

10. One of the morning’s highlights was finding this pile of rubbish. Like I said, I need to fix the route a bit.

11. Cristina feeding a horse near Windmill Hill outside Tiptree.

12. Coming into Tiptree village we had to thread our way through some sand and gravel pits. Lots of unfriendly signs here …

13. … and here.

14. Mercifully, the Tiptree jam factory wasn’t far away. We stopped here for lunch. This was our peppered mackerel dish.

15. Afterwards, we had a cream tea. It consisted of scones and Tiptree jam …

16. … and a pot of tea, of course.

17. Cristina in the cafe at the Tiptree jam factory.

18. Scenes from our afternoon/evening walk. Spotted this pig weather vane on a house near Tiptree.

19. On the path to Tolleshunt D’Arcy.

20. Power lines at dusk, near Little Totham.

21. A dead tree on the path at Chigborough Lakes.

As you can see, things got kind of dark about now. We made it as far as The Old Ship Inn at Heybridge Basin, then called a cab to take us back to the train home at Chelmsford.

For the next attempt, I will try incorporating more time on the Blackwater Estuary. Here are the dates I’ll be running this walk.

Add a comment!

WALK REPORT Photos from a walk we did on a crisp winter’s day in late January. Destination: Leeds Castle. There were six of us on the train out from London Victoria that morning: Sara, Ross, Liz, Miranda, Joe, and myself. The low sun and crystal clear skies made for some nice photography. 24 pics in this set.

1. Coffee and sunshine on the 9:18 from London Victoria. From left to right, that’s Miranda, Sara, and Liz.

2. Watching the South London scenery slip past from the train window. These are the gasometers at Battersea Park.

3. Off the train now. Our walk starts in the little village of Harrietsham, home to Lenham Sports Cars. This company restores and rebuilds classic British cars.

4. Vintage petrol pumps outside the garage at Lenham Sports Cars.

5. Our morning walk takes us uphill to the Pepperbox Inn at Ulcombe. Here we are crossing a meadow that’s puzzlingly strewn with antique enamel basins.

6. Cantering sheep, in a field near Bell Farm.

7. Miranda and Liz on the path through Runham Wood. Ross discovers an old abandoned toy tractor …

8. … and gives it a test drive!

9. A lone catkin on the edge of Runham Wood. I think the tree it’s growing on is either a common alder (Alnus glutinosa) or common hazel (Corylus avellana).

10. We had a great lunch at the Pepperbox Inn – this was dessert.

11. Afterwards, it’s an easy walk downhill to the castle. Here Sara is leading the way across the fields to Chegworth Court farm.

12. Joey the Arab, at Chegworth Court farm.

13. One of the many stiles on today’s walk.

14. Liz looking intrepid.

15. Close-up of some thistles on the path.

16. Liz, Ross, and Miranda on the way down to the little chapel of St Margaret in Broomfield.

17. Spotted this bumblebee on some flowers in the churchyard. Very unusual to see this in January!

18. Miranda and Liz on the lane out of Broomfield. Leeds Castle a short distance ahead.

19. Leeds Castle seen from the hill above the Great Water. We didn’t go inside today but we did stop to visit the swans.

20. Black swans (Cygnus atratus) on the Great Water at Leeds Castle.

21. We stopped outside the castle for tea and jaffa cakes. Here’s Miranda serving out cups from my thermos.

22. Joe taking in the scene.

23. Conclusion: the swans at Leeds Castle like to eat jaffa cakes. And cameras!

24. Tired and happy on the train ride home.

A big THANK YOU to Sara, Ross, Liz, Miranda and Joe for demonstrating how much fun a winter walk can be!

If you would like to try this walk yourself, see this page for details.

And if you liked the photos, please leave a comment. Many thanks —

David

WALK REPORT These photos give you a good impression of what the Stonehenge and Salisbury walk feels like when attempted in wet conditions. Despite the mud and rain, Lassona and I had a grand day out, and I came home with a new and improved route for this walk. 12 miles, 20 pics:

1. As you can see, not a lot of sun around today.

2. Lassona on the train to Salisbury. We’re eating breakfast baguettes.

3. Stonehenge, where we start our walk. This is one of the outlying standing stones.

4. Uprights and lintels.

5. Stonehenge in miniature.

6. Lassona’s niece specially requested a shot of her jumping over Stonehenge. Eight takes and I still couldn’t get the picture – I think we gave up after this!

7. An earthworm on the path from Stonehenge to Springbottom Farm.

8. Lassona and the horses of Springbottom Farm.

9. Moss on a tree trunk near Lake House.

10. Snowdrops. Photo by Lassona Williams.

11. At Durnford Mill, the path crosses the fast-flowing River Avon.

12. A waterlogged tree next to the mill.

13. This is the lane that leads from the mill up to Great Durnford village. Photo by Lassona Williams.

14. A few minutes later: indoors at the Black Horse pub, Great Durnford. That’s my pint on the mantlepiece – we’re waiting for lunch to arrive.

15. Lassona tried the rump burger with new potatoes.

16. Outside the pub after lunch, Lassona got chatting with this very proper gentleman who had been dining alongside us. Photo by Lassona Williams.

17. Leaving the village behind as we climb onto the ridge that will take us south into Salisbury.

18. Nightfall and we’ve arrived in Salisbury. The Christmas tree is still up.

19. This is what you want at the end of a 12 mile walk in the rain: sticky toffee pudding at the Haunch of Venison pub in Salisbury town.

20. Comparing muddy boots on the train home. Lassona’s designer Wellingtons did a good job!

You can do this walk too. Check here for upcoming dates.

Thanks for reading. If you liked the photos, please leave a comment.

– DW

WALK REPORT Trial run of a walk I’m considering adding to the schedule, to Winkworth Arboretum, although it will probably be better to offer it in autumn, when the fall foliage is out. Route was Godalming – Tuesley – Busbridge Woods – Winkworth. Date: Sunday January 6th. With Ed & Sarah. 17 pics in this set.

1. Sarah and Ed checking the route on the train out to Godalming.

2. Sarah’s Christmas present: new boots!

3. Frost on the grass in the graveyard at the church of St Peter & St Paul, Godalming.

4. First flowers of the year: snowdrops in the churchyard at Godalming.

5. A very crowded graveyard.

6. September 26th, 1881 – the night the lights went on in Godalming.

7. Heading out into the countryside now. Sarah and Ed have just spotted a heron in a tree.

8. A line of beeches on the path near Clock Barn Farm. Photo by Ed Mullett.

9. A field near Clock Barn Farm. These peculiar plastic coverings are known as polytunnels. Here they’re used for growing strawberries. Photo by Ed Mullett.

10. We met this friendly chocolate spaniel on the lane near Clock Barn Farm. Photo by Ed Mullett.

11. On the path into Busbridge Woods. Why so serious? Photo by Ed Mullett.

12. Experimenting with the macro setting on my camera. These are my gloves – it was a chilly day.

13. The logging trail through Busbridge Woods. This was our picnic spot.

14. Moss and lichen on the bark of a tree at Winkworth Arboretum.

15. Dew on leaves at Winkworth Arboretum.

16. A goose feeding at Winkworth Arboretum. I think it’s an Embden.

17. Nightfall and we’re back in Godalming. This is the lane leading up to the railway station.

And that’s it for today!

Thanks for reading,

– DW

1. Ross modeling a tube of Colman’s English mustard. We’re making picnic sandwiches on the train out from London Victoria.

2. Beers at the Golden Galleon pub in Exceat. Because some of us were coming from London and others from Brighton, we arranged to meet in the pub. (Starting a walk with a pint is generally not a good idea.)

3. Setting off. This is Yoshi and Yuka on Exceat Hill. The meandering Cuckmere River is in the background.

4. Just over the hill from Exceat is the tiny village of Westdean. We stopped to visit All Saints church here. Detail from the nativity scene on display.

5. Many of the buildings in this part of Sussex feature decorative flint. This is the exterior wall of the rectory at All Saints, Westdean.

6. Yuka climbing one of the stiles near Friston Place. Muddy! Photo by Yoshi Oshima.

7. Posing for a group shot, on the lane near Friston Place. Clockwise from bottom left: Yuka, Anne, Simon, and Martin.

8. Descending the hill into East Dean village.

9. Outside the Tiger Inn, East Dean, on a damp and chilly afternoon. We ate inside where it was warm. Photo by Yoshi Oshima.

10. Yoshi ordering drinks at the bar. Photo by Yuka Oshima.

11. Tomato soup for lunch in the restaurant upstairs.

12. A steep climb after lunch brings us out to the cliffs. This is the view towards Belle Tout lighthouse from East Dean. Because of cliff erosion, the lighthouse was moved several yards back from the cliff edge in 1999, at great expense.

13. A rare Manx Loaghtan sheep in a meadow outside East Dean. Photo by Yoshi Oshima.

14. Yoshi on the path near Crowlink. Photo by Yuka Oshima.

15. Stone wall on the lane down to Crowlink – Seven Sisters cliffs dead ahead.

16. Cows on the clifftops of the Seven Sisters.

It got dark after this. Gave me the idea of doing night walks on this route, at least when the skies are clear. I bet the stars look fabulous from here.

Thanks to everyone who came along on the first walk of 2008. If you’d like to try this route yourself, check the walk profile page.

DW

The Chilterns are a range of hills that lie a little way to the northwest of London. Cutting through these chalk hills is the Grand Union Canal, which once served as an important connection between London and Birmingham, England’s second largest city. Our route today is a circuit, starting off along the old canal towpath by Tring station, later cutting uphill onto the Chilterns escarpment before dropping down into the sleepy village of Aldbury, then heading back to the station to rejoin the train into London. 30 pics in this set:

1. Frost on a leaf on the Grand Union Canal towpath near Tring station.

2. An official milepost of the Grand Union Canal Company. Braunston is important because it’s the point where the Oxford Canal joins the Grand Union, linking it with the Upper Thames Valley navigation system.

3. Dom’s boot on the frosty towpath.

4. Here we are following the towpath into the little hamlet of Cow Roast – about half a mile ahead.

5. This shrub we found on the canal bank is known as European spindle (Euonymus europaeus). The fruits are poisonous.

6. Bridge over the canal at Newground Road.

7. A boat coming into the lock at Cow Roast.

8. Cowroast Marina. It’s all downhill from here to London – there are 54 locks between this point and Brentford on the River Thames.

9. Close-up of one of the longboats moored at Cow Roast. Perfect name for a country & western singer, I thought. Just around the corner is the Cow Roast Inn, our first pub of the day.

10. The Cow Roast Inn is not your typical traditional English pub, though it looks like one from the outside. Inside, it’s decorated all over with dragons, and turned out to be a Thai restaurant. So we had prawn crackers with our pints of Guinness.

11. After the pub, we made for the village of Aldbury. Met this alpaca on the footpath near Norcott Court Farm.

12. Dale checking out the views across the Bulbourne Valley.

13. David and Dominica on the path up to Tom’s Hill.

14. Close-up of some holly.

15. Autumn foliage on the path into Aldbury.

16. Dropping down into Aldbury village now. Footpath sign on the edge of town.

17. Aldbury village.

18. The only traffic in town was this 1920s-vintage motorcar.

19. Outside the Greyhound Inn, Aldbury. If you’ve seen the director’s cut of Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, you may recognize this pub. We had lunch here!

20. Steak and ale pie at the Greyhound.

21. After lunch we went to have a look at St James the Baptist, Aldbury. This church dates to the 13th Century.

22. Inside is a grand tomb dedicated to the Whittingham family. Sir Robert, on the left, was an important local merchant of the 15th Century. Graham is admiring the wild man carved at Sir Robert’s feet, which you can see in detail in shot 24.

23. Sir Robert’s effigy in silhouette.

24. And here is the close-up of the wild man from shot 22. I want to find out what the significance of these figures is. Lady Whittingham has a dog at her feet, for example.

25. This is the Bridgewater Monument which stands on a hill above Aldbury village. It was built in 1832 to commemorate the Duke of Bridgewater, who came up with the masterplan for Britain’s canal network.

26. Graham and David near Moneybury Hill. The sun is getting low in the sky.

27. Curious cattle on the path near Little Stocks Farm.

28. Trouble, an ancient little terrier we met on the path home.

29. Old wagons near Little Stocks Farm.

30. Old man’s beard (Clematis vitalba) on the path at sundown.

Graham, Dom, Dale, and David, thanks a million for coming out on such a lovely day. If you’ve made it this far, please add a comment below!

David

PS You can browse the “News by category” in the right sidebar at the top of this page for more photos from our walks. Or visit these links: other walks • walks calendar

Don’t care to scroll? Click anywhere on the montage to advance down the page. Then just keep going!

We caught an early morning train out from London to Salisbury, then a bus up to Stonehenge. This map shows our route back to Salisbury. The numbers on it correspond to the photos that follow.

1. That’s Rafi (Hamburg, Germany) on the left and Brad (Boston, Massachusetts) on the right. Taken on the train out from London Waterloo, about 9am.

2. Stonehenge, cold and somber when we arrive.

3. The capped vertical stone on the left is all that remains standing of the tallest trilithon. Above ground, it’s 22 feet (6.7m) tall. Below ground, it goes down another eight feet (2.4m).

4. Photo ops: here’s Brad.

5. And here’s Nadine, who’s listening in to the free audio commentary. You may recognize her from an earlier walk.

6. One curious sarsen – the Heelstone – stands apart from the other rocks at Stonehenge. It may have served as a landmark during processional marches along The Avenue, an ancient track which leads up into the heart of the stone circle from a point on the River Avon two miles away.

7. Brad feeding a horse near Springbottom Farm. We’re on our way to lunch now at the Black Horse pub in Great Durnford.

8. Me and some horses at Springbottom Farm. Photo by Brad Hepburn.

9. Giant oaks and autumn leaves on the path above Lake House. The pub is a 15-minute stroll away downhill.

10. Sitting down to lunch at the Black Horse in Great Durnford. Nadine and her pint …

11. Rafi had a bacon cheeseburger.

12. Gargoyle or hunkypunk? Exterior wall detail, Middle Woodford parish church. We’re back on the road after lunch, with just four miles to go until we reach Salisbury.

13. Then it started getting dark. Here’s a particularly spooky stretch of the path just outside Salisbury.

14. Rafi’s backpack. Being from Hamburg, he’s a St Pauli fan.

15. Target in sight! As night falls, we make out the 400-foot spire of Salisbury Cathedral, dead ahead.

16. Finally, we fetch up at the cathedral. Walk complete. Time to hit the pub!

If you’d like to try this route out with us too, email me at david@englishcountrywalks.com for details on upcoming dates, etc.

Questions/comments?

1. We started early (8am) from London’s Paddington station, and took the fast train out to Taunton, a market town in the West Country. In this picture I’m explaining the route of today’s walk to the others. Anne, did you take this?

2. Some of us needed coffee to wake up. Russell’s son Zac (who just turned 5!) … drinking a latté at Taunton station.

3. We had to wait a few minutes for the local bus to the village of Bishops Lydeard, where our walk begins. Spotted this ad by the bus stop.

4. West View, Bishops Lydeard. This is the garden of our bed and breakfast. We stopped here briefly on arrival in the village, to check in and drop our bags.

5. Now we’re off on our Saturday walk. Zachary, Russell, and Anne on a country lane in the tiny village of Ash Priors.

6. I think it must have rained in the morning as everything was looking very lush. This is an Oenothera fruticosa by the roadside in Ash Priors.

7. We found this mushroom in a field outside Ash Priors. It’s a Coprinus comatus and is meant to be delicious, but we didn’t eat it because I didn’t know what it was at the time.

8. Fooling about in Ash Priors. Here’s Zac pretending to pee into a stream. Charming, isn’t he?

9. This is Joyce, the organist at Ash Priors church, who happened to be there when we wandered in for a look. She played Amazing Grace for us.

10. Leaving Ash Priors behind now. This is the view up the wooded path towards Combe Florey, where we plan to eat lunch at the Farmers Arms pub.

11. Lunch at the Farmers Arms was excellent! For Zac, the highlight was definitely dessert.

12. I had treacle tart with clotted cream.

13. Zac finished with a pint of bitter.

14. Zac, you take good pictures when you’re tipsy! Next time I must remember my make-up. Photo by Zachary Saint Cyr.

15. After lunch we climbed through some meadows into the hills outside Combe Florey. I liked the light in this shot.

16. Sumeet with his camera out, on the path near Chesil House Farm.

17. Priya, Anne, and Sumeet at Homelea Farm.

18. This mushroom is genus Panaeolus, but I’m not sure which species. Not good to eat. Found in a cow pasture near Halse village.

19. Priya, Anne, and Aleks crossing a field at dusk. The New Inn at Halse is meant to be a good pub, and it’s only five minutes’ walk away.

20. Detail of the artwork on the men’s room wall at the New Inn pub, Halse village.

21. It was dark when we left the pub, but Sumeet was well equipped with a flashlight, so all good there. This is one of the thatched cottages we passed on the way out of Halse village.

22. Now it’s Sunday morning and time for breakfast. This is the dining room at West View B&B.

23. Russell serving Zac breakfast at West View. Yoghurt and cereal, mmm.

24. 10am: time to catch our steam train to the coast from Bishops Lydeard station.

25. The train driver let Zac on board the locomotive to have a look. This is a close-up of the red-hot firebox.

26. Now we’re under way. Our train, climbing the bank to Crowcombe station on the edge of the Quantock Hills. Speed about 25mph.

27. An antique advertisement on a station platform, somewhere between Bishops Lydeard and Dunster.

28. Arrival at Dunster. Here’s Priya and Sumeet, just off the train.

29. A flowering Veronica on the path near Dunster village. There are 500 species – does anyone know which this is?

30. Russell found this creature on the path. I think it’s a white-lipped snail, Cepaea hortensis, but could do with confirmation. Any snail experts out there?

31. Outside Dunster Castle. Zac stole my map and wouldn’t give it back.

32. Father and son. Russell pulling Zac up the steep path that leads to Dunster Castle gates.

33. A view of the gatehouse at Dunster Castle.

34. We had a picnic lunch inside the castle keep, which is ringed by a thick garden. Close-up of a Dahlia ‘Fascination’.

35. After the castle, we visited Dunster church (seen here), then went to buy chocolate fudge and ice cream.

36. It’s now four o’clock and we’re waiting for our train home from Dunster station. L to R: Aleks, Sumeet, Anne, and Zac.

37. All aboard! I thought this one might work better in black and white.

38. Back in Taunton and about to go for dinner before catching our train home to London. Sumeet, Russell, and Anne lead the way. We never did find out what the tragedy was!

39. Needless to say, we did NOT go into this restaurant. Went to a Chinese down the street instead.

40. Home in London with a bowl of Somerset apples on my windowsill.

This trip was a great success and I’m really looking forward to the next one. Thanks again to all who came! Please leave a comment if you liked the photos.

– DW

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Joe and I were both pretty hung over from a late night out on Friday, so our first stop on arriving in Seaford was this pastry shop, to grab some breakfast. Very friendly proprietor!

Me lying on the beach at Seaford. The bandaged left arm is because I crashed my bike into a wall in West London while coming home from a gig the night before (I Blame Coco!), dislocating my knee and gouging both arms in the process. So we started the walk gently, with a picnic on the warm pebble beach. Photo by Joe Spikes.

Joe enjoying his “Full English Breakfast” pasty. True to its name, it contained sausages, bacon, baked beans and a fried egg. That cliff in the distance is Seaford Head, where we’re going.

But first we have to walk along the promenade that runs the length of the sea front at Seaford. Check out the funky car.

More pics of the promenade. This is a Martello tower, one of a series of small forts built around England’s southern and eastern coasts in the 19th Century to defend against attacks by sea.

Baywatch, Seaford stylee.

A girl on the beach.

Now we’ve reached the beginning of the chalk cliffs on the eastern end of the promenade at Seaford. Thousands of people have carved their names and initials into the soft chalk of the cliffs here.

And this is the view if you take a step back. Looking east towards Seaford Head.

Climbing the cliff path outside Seaford.

Joe on the cliff path.

Mushroom sighting! We found this tiny puffball on the clifftop path near Hope Gap.

You get a good view of the Seven Sisters cliffs from the beach at Hope Gap. Note the sign warning of rockfalls – that chalk is crumbly!

If you saw this sign for the first time, what would you think it meant?

This is what it’s actually referring to. Heavy equipment being used to shore up the beach at Cuckmere Haven.

A kayak training session on the River Cuckmere at Exceat.

Somebody told me this was Virginia creeper but having looked up its distribution (North America, mostly), I’m not so sure. If you know, tell me! Taken at Exceat Farmhouse.

Inside All Saints chapel in the tiny village of West Dean. I’ve been reliably informed that the embroidery on the green altar frontal is a Trinity Star. It was donated to the church by two parishioners and made its first appearance in 1936. Thank you Jennifer!

Dew on a plant in Friston Forest. I think this is Stachys byzantina, commonly known as Lamb’s Ear or Lamb’s Tongue. But if anyone begs to differ, please do so. Thank you for the ID, Sue!

I also need help identifying this spider.

Friston Church as seen through the swing gate. The footpath cuts through the churchyard here.

Joe again. This is the view down the path to East Dean village. The light is starting to get really good now.

A Camellia on the wall outside the Tiger Inn pub in East Dean village.

After a pit-stop at the Tiger Inn, we headed back west to the sea. This is the road that leads down to the cliffs near Crowlink. Cows ahead in the distance.

The low sun made for perfect silhouettes. Here’s one closer up. It’s a Hereford, a beef cow.

Closer still. Happily grazing away and not taking any notice of me.

Some flowering fuchsias on the path, backlit by the setting sun.

We’re past the little farming settlement of Crowlink now – approaching the Seven Sisters.

Cliff edge. Joe watching the sun go down over the English Channel.

The white chalk of the cliffs looks a very warm red in this evening light.

A couple watching the sunset from the cliffs at Rough Bottom. Time to head back to Seaford and catch the train home to London.

We met some girls on the train back. They were all heading out for a friend’s 18th birthday party in Brighton, and were determined to have a good time. I gave them some chocolate biscuits left over from our picnic.

I think they liked the biscuits. Happy Birthday Ria!

If you’d like to join me next time I do this route, check here for details on dates.

Thanks for reading! Leave a comment if you’d like.

– DW

I started in Kelvedon, which you can get to by train easily from London. This is the sign outside The Sun Inn, a pub on the north side of town.

… then headed to the little hamlet of Inworth. You can just make out the tower of the village church through the trees in the middle distance.

Closer to the church now. The footpath cuts uphill through an avenue of lime trees.

And here’s the view from six feet under – the church tower at All Saints, Inworth.

These are called ‘red hot pokers’ – Latin name Kniphofia. Originally from Africa, now lining a roadside in Essex.

Sloe berries galore. Very bitter.

Rose hips on the path to Tiptree.

And here are some blackberries. I estimate I saw about 10 million of these today. They were delicious!

Teasel (Dipsacus) on the path near Perry’s Wood.

A mature acorn on an oak. Again, there were millions of them out. Apparently, if you remove the tannins from the acorn, you can then grind them down to a flour and make acorn pancakes. This I have to try!

A bumblebee on the flower of a Hebe ‘Blue gem’ (Hebe x franciscana). Taken on the garden wall of a house in Tiptree village.

Tiptree jams are made in a factory on the south side of town. This is the jam shop adjacent. There’s a museum, and a restaurant where you can order cream teas.

Inside the Tiptree jam shop. I bought one jar of Apricot & Armangac to take home. Thanks Pam!

After leaving the jam shop I headed south on country lanes towards Maldon. Found this caterpillar trying to cross the road. It’s a pale tussock moth (Dasychira pudibunda) in larval form.

I also found this monster mushroom. Could do with some help identifying it. If you know what it is, please leave a comment below, ta.

I crawled underneath it to try and get a better photo. Macro shot of the gills.

Time for lunch. I stopped at The Swan in Little Totham. This pub won the CAMRA pub of the year award in 2002.

Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding on the bar at The Swan. Done to perfection – excellent potatoes too.

These are some of the local bitters served on tap here.

Back on the path after lunch. These scary-looking things are sweet chestnuts, Latin name Castanea sativa.

Some random farm machinery that caught my eye. Not sure what it does though.

Close-up of a flowering ivy. Taken on the path near Heybridge Basin. Getting close to the Blackwater Estuary, an arm of the North Sea that extends inland to the town of Maldon.

Now we’re on the estuary. This is the decommissioned fast attack vessel, Defender, formerly of the Oman Navy(!) It’s currently moored at Heybridge Basin. I have no idea why it’s here, but I intend to find out.

Sunset on the walk into Maldon. The end of a long day out!

From the research I did today, I will be putting together a new route for English Country Walks. It’s going to take in the jam shop and factory at Tiptree, and a couple of other interesting destinations. I’ll publish a walk profile soon.

In the meantime, click here for a complete list of current walks.

Thanks for reading,

– DW