It was a blisteringly hot day in Essex and ten valiant knights set out on a quest to find dragons. The first challenge was the one to find a parking space as we were competing with the Bures music festival, but it did mean that we set off accompanied by a choir of heavenly voices.
The town of Bures pretty much spans the Essex-Suffolk border. Our walk set out on the Essex side of the River Stour, weaving through parched, golden fields and along dappled green lanes. The baking heat was eased a little by a strong breeze – hot in some places, cool and refreshing in others. By the time we got to Wormingford we were ready for a break. Luckily, we arrived just as the morning service at the church was ending and the very welcoming congregation invited us in. Here in the cool, shady interior of God's house we saw our first dragon. In an east-facing window, nestled at the feet of St George and St Michael, was a fine, green crocodile complete with human legs protruding from its mouth. Not your usual religious art!
From Wormingford we continued along the Essex border until we got to Little Horkesley where we crossed the River Stour into the foreign land that is Suffolk. Amongst their strange customs is the naming of the village of Wissington, which apparently goes by Wiston. In the church we found our second dragon – resplendent over the north door. He’s a massive 14th century wall painting of a red dragon. No legs hanging out the mouth, but claws and a fine set of wings.
The second half of the quest, along the Suffolk side of the river, was punishingly hilly in the heat of the afternoon. However, views were amazing: golden fields contrasting with green trees against a bright blue sky. At the top of the last hill was the charming little chapel dedicated to St Stephen and built on the site of the coronation of St Edmund. In the grounds were a set of very welcome seats, all angled to give you the perfect view of our final dragon. Carved into the chalk hill across the valley is an enormous dragon, poised on the hill ready to take flight over the trees.
With our quest completed all that remained was the descent down into Bures to quaff some celebratory ale in the local inn.
Ali
Not as Easy as it Looks!
On a warm evening in early July we met up in Skreens Park for a wheelchair obstacle course. There was quite a lot of joking as we got our wheelchairs and crash helmets, but it’s fair to say that the course was pretty hard. Nothing mind-boggling, just the sort of thing wheelchair users come up against every day. There were chicanes, uneven surfaces, cambers, see-saws. It was astonishing just how hard a one-inch step was to get over! After joking that we were training for our dotage, we now have a huge respect for those who have no choice but to use a wheelchair.
The health and safety award goes to Jim, who was the only one to prove that crash helmets were necessary.
A Hot Pursuit for Hydrants in Chelmer Village
Chelmer Village served up a gloriously hot and sunny evening for our recent bout of orienteering. Steve C armed us with maps dotted with elusive fire hydrants, and off we dashed—well, walked very briskly—trying to beat both the clock and the heat. With penalties looming for anyone dawdling past the one‑hour mark, tension rose as the minutes ticked away. Alison and I swept in with a heroic 39 seconds to spare, proudly claiming the bronze medal for third place… out of three teams. A podium finish is a podium finish, and we’ll take it with a smile.
Dave P