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.
Responses to this topic: 1
mooneye said in 4-20-2008 @ 16:26:38
Oooh, rubbish, my favorite! How come we didn’t see any on *our* walk? 😉 Just kidding – manor houses, pubs, neolithic stones and things are good enough for me!
—sue h