Our Sunday walk last week was a nice little 9 miler centred on Great Dunmow. The forecast had been a little grim, but although it remained chilly it was a lot sunnier than expected.
We started from the town car park walking out towards Doctor's Pond. En route we passed a fascinating bit of yarn-bombing, where the postbox had been crowned with a knitted caterpillar and the slogan #freecuthbert in a tribute to the current copyright tussle between M&S and Aldi.
The Doctors Pond is thought to be named after the local 18th century Doctor Rayner, who first stocked the pond with fish - presumably something the locals were pleased about – however its moment of fame came with Lionel Lukin who tested the first prototype of the self-righting lifeboat there in 1784. Not much has changed today, except the local council now keeps the fish topped up.
We passed ducks and geese, and some gorgeous fluffy goslings whist we walked through busy playing fields on our way to the church. We were now leaving Dunmow and heading out into the surrounding countryside: an area filled with large country manors for the well-to-do. A string of footpaths took us out past Bigods Hall, a former boys school which became a home for orphaned boys who had lost their parents in the Blitz, and then into the very pretty village of Bran End. From here it was a short, but scenic, stroll into Stebbing. Like Dunmow, Stebbing is another settlement that grew up on the Roman road of Stane Street. Our route passed close to the moat of Stebbing castle mount. This was rather masked by trees, but the motte is an impressive 69m in diameter and 13m tall and is unusual in that it isn’t associated with a bailey.
Next it was back to Dunmow, passing the extremely grand Merks Hall. Merks Hall hit the headlines back in 1999 when its multimillionaire owner wiped himself out on the A120 in his shiny red sportscar.
Of course Dunmow has much grander associations. The Dunmow Flitch Trials have been going for around 900 years. They have survived the Black Death, the Great Plague of London, smallpox and polio, but sadly were postponed last year due to Covid. They get a mention in Chaucer (The Canterbury Tales, Wife of Bath) and in Dickens (Our Mutual Friend). It’s where a side of bacon is awarded to a married couple who can swear that they have not regretted their marriage for a year and a day. No bacon for us, but a couple of us did stick around for a coffee and a cheeky bit of cake.
Ali
Scavengers!
Thank you, Marion, for organising such an entertaining “scavenger hunt” week at the end of April, culminating a fantastic evening where we reviewed photos of our finds. From withstanding the glassy-eyed stare of our local pigeon, to searching gravestones and reading every memorial bench we passed to check for familiar names (I still catch myself doing that!). We were dedicated to ticking the items off Marion’s list. It certainly enlivened our local walks and sparked a bit of friendly rivalry.
Ali
Happy Birthday, Doug
Caroline led an icy walk at the start of May, taking in the exotic environs of Billericay whilst being pelted with hail. I sympathise, as Dave and I were caught in a similar shower 300 miles further north on holiday in Yorkshire. British weather at its best!
Post-walk Caroline, Doug and the others stopped by at Oliver’s restaurant in Billericay for a chilly birthday tea to celebrate Doug surviving another year.
Ali