I’m doing a test run of a walk to Tiptree and Maldon in Essex this weekend. All readers invited!

The route runs from the market town of Maldon on the Blackwater Estuary up into the farmlands of East Anglia, finishing at the Roman settlement of Canonium (now called Kelvedon). We’ll be stopping for lunch on the way at a pub called The Swan in Little Totham village, and later, cream teas in Tiptree, a town famous for its jam. Estimated total cost for this walk, including train fare and lunch, is about £25.

UPDATE at 0749 on Saturday 29 September:
Originally, I was going to do this walk today, but the weather’s not looking so hot for photos, so I’m postponing it until tomorrow.

New meeting time will be 8am on Sunday morning (Sept 30th) at the main ticket counter, Liverpool Street station.

If you’d like to come, please let me know, either by email or by phone:

email david@englishcountrywalks.com
tel 07932 953 174

Thanks!

— DW

WALK REPORT This was meant to be a test of my New Forest mushroom hunting walk. Sadly, we only found one mushroom. It was up a tree, and not very photogenic, so you won’t see it featured in the pictures below. I expect to have more luck in October and November, when the growing conditions will be better.

Our route today starts in Brockenhurst, on the edge of the New Forest National Park, and follows the Lymington River valley down to the sea. 23 pics in this set. Thanks for coming, Nadine!

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WALK REPORT Last Sunday I organized a trial walk to a new destination for ECW – Stonehenge! My flatmates Aleks and Mai came with me. The day before, I posted ads on the online classified boards Gumtree and Craigslist, inviting others along to help test the route … and hey presto, bright and early Sunday morning at Waterloo station we were joined by Lucas (from Australia) and Thuan, who was over in London on business from San Francisco and had the day off from her crazy work schedule.

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WALK REPORT Just a couple of shots from a test walk to Winkworth Arboretum, near Guildford in Surrey. Trying it out as a possible autumn destination. Photos by Adam Pushkin.

My good friend Sue is helping to promote English Country Walks in the US, with these classy bumper magnets. Email me if you want one too. Apparently, they’ll stick to anything except Saturns (Saturns are plastic cars).

First two are version 1, this one is the more refined version 2. Looking sharp now.

Thanks Sue!

— DW

WALK REPORT These photos are from a test run of a walk I did on Sunday with Lizzie, Katie, and Jonny to Tring and the Ivinghoe Beacon. The Beacon is an outcrop of the Chiltern Hills that lie to the northwest of London; from it you get some amazing views out over the surrounding English countryside. Thanks to my St Albans friend Graham Williams for suggesting the route. I may incorporate it into the schedule as one of my autumn walks. Scroll down for the full-size images, with captions.

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Coding up a calendar for the website. I want to make it easier to select walks by date – at the moment you have to pick a walk, then check which dates that walk is available.

Ideally, you ought to be able to view all of the walk dates at a glance, preferably on the home page.

I’ll see what I can do …

WALK REPORT Here are a few photos from the walk I did last Monday near the Seven Sisters – a line of white chalk cliffs on the south coast of England, where the hills of the South Downs meet the English Channel. It was a dreary day, not a great one for photography – hope to have some better shots next time around!

Route: Exceat – Westdean – Friston Forest – East Dean (Tiger Inn) – Crowlink – Seven Sisters – Cuckmere Haven – Exceat [walk profile]

The flintstone facing on this cottage in Westdean village is characteristic of this region of Southeast England.

All Saints chapel in Westdean, completely deserted on a wet Monday afternoon.

Inside All Saints chapel. What is the proper name of the cloth hanging behind the carved wooden eagle lectern?

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WALK REPORT Here at last are some pictures from our Leeds Castle walk. Along with me this time were my friends Guy and Guy (which made for some confusion). Guy brought his specially modified 16mm film camera. Unfortunately, it jammed irreparably just before we made it to the castle.

Route: Harrietsham – Fairbourne Heath – The Pepperbox – Kings Wood – Broomfield – Leeds Castle – Eyhorne Street – Hollingbourne station [walk profile]

Old petrol pumps in Harrietsham village.

Playful dogs in a back garden near Fairbourne Manor Farm.

Stopped for lunch at The Pepperbox. This is Guy’s special camera.

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WALK REPORT I was joined on this test walk by my friends Matt and Richard, who are to be congratulated for getting up at the ungodly hour of 7:30 on a Saturday morning. After a smooth ride on the fast train to Colchester North, a slow branch-line connecting train took us into Colchester Town where we caught a somewhat skanky bus out to start of the walk near Colchester Zoo. For future walks, I’m considering ditching the bus portion in favor of a cab to the starting point.

Our route on Saturday followed the Roman River: Colchester Zoo – Cheshunt Field Iron Age & Roman Settlement – Chest Wood – Layer de la Haye (pub) – Abberton Manor – Abberton church – Abberton village (pub) – Haye Farm – Fingringhoe (pub) – Rowhedge (pub). This walk is much improved from the previous week, given the addition of one extra pub at Abberton which breaks up the journey nicely. [walk profile]

Here are some photos from our day out. I know, too much camera-tilt. Will make an effort to avoid excessive use of this effect in future photos, but be forewarned, the next couple of batches suffer from it.

These ruins in the center of Colchester are all that remain of the first Augustinian priory church in England, St Botolph’s. Botolph was an influential Christian missionary of the 7th Century AD whose name was given to many churches and towns throughout the East Anglia region of England. It is theorized that one such town is “Botolph’s Stone” in Lincolnshire. This name was later shortened to Boston, and replicated across the Atlantic as the capital city of the state of Massachusetts.

Red corn poppies (Papaver rhoeas) and other wildflowers on a patch of scrub land near Butcher’s Wood, just outside Colchester.

A vintage 1960s Daimler Sovereign we found parked in a driveway in Layer de la Haye village. This car is an early relative of the Jaguar XJ6.

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