Tuesday 10 September 2019

A Trip to Essex

 Well, I came off my bike and twisted my knee and skinned my elbow, so I am taking only gentle exercise and don't feel too guilty about sitting at the computer even when not writing the book. Actually, I am a bit shocked at how long it is since I last did a post. 

Last week (before I came off the bike) we decided to take a couple of days and see more of Essex. Essex doesn't sound that thrilling a destination if you live in London. Some of it has been swallowed up in London suburbia, and the rest of it is rather flat and agricultural, without all that many eye popping major tourist attractions.  Which doesn't of course mean there's nothing to see - far from it - but it does mean you don't feel too crowded out, and there's the big advantage that it's little more than an hour from where we live in London. 

I've written a few times about Essex, including  here about the lost garden and here about Tiptree jams. My great grandmother lived there (although we could never work out why, since she'd always planned to retire to Ireland) and my mother had lots of  childhood memories of the place, including travelling from Chelmsford station to granny in Tolleshunt Major in an old pony and trap, since there wasn't any public transport!  

We based ourselves in a bed and breakfast in Maldon, an old sailing town.   The house where we stayed is right on the quayside,  where traditional Thames barges are moored. The pink arrow marks the house, which, if you are interested, is called 32 The Hythe.


Our room had windows on three sides, two of them overlooking the water and the boats, and the other overlooking the church.  It was just about as perfect as a b& b could be, we thought.  Lots of little goodies and even hens (who lived in a palatial coop outside the kitchen door), to provide fresh eggs for breakfast.   And a telescope at the window to look over the estuary, which winds around for miles. 


The boats were so picturesque, especially in the early mornings... 


....and the evenings, when the local starlings would choose one particular boat for them all to roost on with a great chattering and cheeping. 
  
Maldon feels like a good place, it is well cared for and interesting without being pretentious. It celebrated its thousand year anniversary in 1991 and the town possesses a huge commemorative embroidery stitched by local people, which I spent ages looking at.  It's bold and vibrant, and it is on display inside a building which is also a unique late 17th century library donated by a local benefactor, Rev. Thomas Plume.  

The books in Plume's Library mostly date from before 1800 and the library is still very much alive, opening for four days a week, (I am sorry to say this is better than some local council libraries these days.)  A look at the catalogue shows he was a keen collector with wide tastes, but unfortunately I managed to visit just too late for the day's opening.  Next time, I will be sure to go earlier, and might find out a bit about the secret influences, wiles and ways of bad angels in Henry Lawrence's "Militia spiritualis, or, A treatise of angels: handling the nature, power, substance and existence of good [and] evill angels : wherein is likewise shewed what incredible power, secret influences, wiles and wayes, methods and moods the good and bad angels doe daily exercise in the hearts of men though they little mind it."

I loved the embroidery for its liveliness and graphic style in telling the story of the town from its early Saxon days right through to the  foxhunting protests of more modern times.


My eye was particularly caught by the building shown below.  I don't know what "Pant" means, but the building, with a Celtic cross on one side, was from longer ago than the soldiers in the 991 AD Battle of Maldon who are shown to the right.   In fact it is one of the oldest Christian buildings in the British Isles, dating from 654 AD, and it still stands near Maldon. 
   

Of course T. and I decided to go and see it, even though we suspected it wouldn't be quite as multi coloured as the beautiful embroidery suggests.  It's in a village called Bradwell,  and has had a chequered history. It was first built by St. Cedd, a Celtic saint from the holy island of Lindisfarne, 350 miles to the North.   Its name is St. Peter ad Murum, (Latin for St. Peter at the Wall) and it's build on - and from - the remains of a large Roman fort which stood on the site about 1,500 years ago, for this area had some importance in the Roman Empire. 


There is nothing visible left of the fort except for a few stones, and I am sure the fort was a godsend to the locals wanting to build cottages over the past millennium and a half.    The car park is over half a mile away and you need to walk along a country footpath to reach the chapel which is in an exposed position opposite the estuary.  

The place had a real atmosphere. Take a look at this stonework below. You can be sure that the local Anglo-Saxons, who lived in little wood and mud huts, wouldn't have had the technology to cut stones like this, let alone bring them all the way to this silty, sandy and largely stoneless landscape.   The Romans cut these, and they also made the red tiles which went on their roofs. 


The chapel has had a chequered history, having at various times fallen into disrepair - it was once even used as a barn, but it always retained the story of its holy past.  It would have made a very good barn, being high and long, but its most recent restoration has given it a modern altar containing three large stones from holy places, as you can probably see if you look closely. 


 There is no electricity, heating or toilets, and the chapel is left open all the time. Despite this, it is in good repair, clean and decked with flowers, and has weekly services, special services at Christmas and Easter, and open air services in summer, as well holding as an annual pilgrimage.  A local Christian community, Orthona (which was the Roman name for the fort) lives in a nearby wood and also uses the chapel, so perhaps they are the ones who guard and care for it. 

It's a really minimalist landscape, flat and big-skied, and T and I wandered along the dyke which protects the low lying land down the shore, admiring the sometimes strange effects of the shadows and light.


Maldon has a lot of old buildings but doesn't take itself too seriously. When we returned, we spotted an amusing plaque to a popular 18th century tradesman,  Edward Bright, whose name still survives in a street in the centre of town called Bright's Path.   Bright was known as the Fattest Man in England, and was quite a celebrity for it, which luckily he seems to have taken in a good spirit.  After his death, seven local men undertook to fit into his waistcoat for a wager.  In fact, the wager said "Seven Hundred Men" but the seven still won because each of them came from a place called the Dengie Hundred, which was the equivalent of the local county in which Maldon stands.  


I was also amused at the sign for one of the pubs down by the water. The Queen's Head's pub sign features a 1588 portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, the unaltered version of which you can see below.


She doesn't look that friendly even in the portrait, but someone has gone to quite a bit of trouble to get a couple of those eyes you stick on teddy bears and carefully glue them to Queen Elizabeth's eyes, on the pub sign, giving her a glare which to me looks icy enough to terrify any courtier.



Maldon's not far from the Royal Horticultural Society's gardens at Hyde Hall, and we called in there on the way home.  Summer has started to fade,  and Autumn has not yet arrived, so it is not a good time for gardens but there was some interesting planting, often mixing flowers, seed heads and decorative grasses (oh, and by the way, please can someone remind me of the name of the large red flowered plant below? I just can't remember it!)



 I am a fan of grasses, so I liked this too



And this modern garden, designed to make you think of an overgrown topiary garden, intrigued me.  Of course it is not overgrown, and is very carefully tended. The only flowers were a clump of huge yellow kniphofia, which looked startling against the dark yew.  



More traditional were some beautiful gladioli, this one was such a pure perfect white


and this was an eye-shattering collection of new varieties of popular bedding plants, lent by their growers and breeders as a way of assessing public reaction. The display really was as bright as this, , including a almost fake looking  light-and-dark pink rose just right of the centre.


I think I was keener on several of the plants which looked as if they had been hand-made out of wool or other textiles.  A pumpkin-sized squash... 


 and giant-headed sunflowers, which were full of detail.


Back in London, we went out for a meal to a restaurant I was glad to discover. At last, a local restaurant that serves nice food and isn't too expensive! The food is Georgian, from the ex-Soviet Union, a place which one of our friends knew well. She assured us the region is renowned for its food.  On each table is a cute little model showing the dishes you can order in the restaurant. Walnuts are a popular ingredient, and it's all delicious (except for dumplings, which I can never learn to love.)  


I'd almost like to buy one of these little models and take it home. Which reminds me, it is time for me to make something if we are to eat tonight.   Well, I'm glad I got this post done at last!


73 comments:

  1. Oh my, I loved every word and photo in this post. So fascinating to me. Thank you, Jenny!

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  2. Except I did not like hearing you have an injury! Hope you are better soon. xx

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  3. Lovely old church. The boats are always nice to see.

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  4. Wonderful post today.
    Adore the Chapel and was surprised how lovely it looks inside. I like that someone is looking after it.
    As we all should be. This is our world to live in and keep safe and hopefully make better for all.
    Sorry to say be in America it would have gang signs all over it.
    parsnip

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    1. I am not sure the gangs would be willing to walk half a mile through open countryside in order to tag it, thankfully.

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  5. Lovely Maldon! An old stamping - and sailing - ground.
    It was once not altogether respectable...Sabine Baring Gould was vicar of West Mersea and when the congregation sang 'Thou whose almighty word' and came to the line 'and in earth's darkest place' he would turn in the direction of Maldon...or so was the tale I heard in West Mersea!
    I have a Georgian cookery book...but given the price of walnuts here no longer make the recipes.

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    1. I have a biography of Sabine Baring Gould, a very interesting and strange man, but then Victorian vicars so often were, it seems. A shame you don't have Lidl in Costa Rica, a nice big pack of walnuts costs only £1.80 currently. Which is not exactly cheap when making some of the recipes, but okay for special occasions.

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  6. This was a far richer trip than I expected from your beginning explanation. It is a great area and I do love gardens at all times of the year. Winter and fall you can see the "bones." The old building is also magnificent. WE have little like that here in the U.S.

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    1. Yes, I like the idea of seeing the bones of a garden, often forgotten in the heights of summer

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  7. Sometimes it's not the big and splashy places, it's the quiet nooks that draw my attention. That church, how i would love to attend a service there, amidst the prayers of so many through the years.

    You are so right about those eyes!

    A well tended garden can be a joy almost any time of year.

    Hope you heal up from your accident quickly and fullly.

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    1. I do think that for someone with a life centred on religion, this is a wondrous place. Many English churches are on very, very ancient sites, (although few as old as this) and even if the churches have been rebuilt over the years, you can indeed feel this spiritual feeling, specially if you are there alone.

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  8. Being Australian, I would always want to live and holiday near a beach. Our beaches might be hotter than yours, but your photo of Maldon is much more interesting. Old sailing towns, are fascinating, especially if the architecture has been preserved and the old barges are still moored there. Well done, Maldon.

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    1. I don't think Maldon is much like Australian beaches, mind you.... but it is wonderful to be near water. Sailing towns evoke a completely different way of life, particularly if the boats are still used.

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  9. And a fox hunter is over the handlebars! I do admire things made of stone. Walls, buildings. As rough looking as is the building, the expertise in stacking and securing all those stones is mind boggling

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    1. It is quite a skill. I am sure if I built one everything would fall down immediately!

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  10. Hello Jenny, Sometimes it is the most fascinating to explore places right near home. I have a huge list of places that I want to go to, and that are not far, but when at home it is too easy to let them go for "next time." However, when we do go to such convenient places we are invariable rewarded by an abundance of interesting sights, shopping, history, and natural beauty.
    --Jim

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    1. Very true. I am finding that it is far too easy to feel a bit disparaging about places near home because we've passed through them on the train or something and they didn't look very interesting. So it's turning out to be a wonderful surprise to explore places I never bothered with before.

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  11. Another beautifully crafted and photographed post. Your eye for rich detail is amazing. And you seem to find the things that I believe I would find most interesting to share.
    Your red flowering plant almost looks like our fire spike but I don't think it is. The leaves almost put me in mind of a cleodendrum of some sort.
    I hope you are soon completely recovered from your accident.

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    1. Thanks for your nice words. I think the plant looks very like a firespike but as you say it probably isn't - it's quite large. This time of year it gets rusty and ugly and falls about all over the place, but I guess I caught it at its best.

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  12. Maldon and the church look very interesting.

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  13. I visited Maldon many many years ago, and can't remember a thing about it. I could have done with someone to show me all the local sights! As for Essex, my mother's parents lived in Westcliff and the family often went there for holidays. I shall always remember the little trains on Southend Pier! My niece lives in Saffron Walden.

    The embroidery looks amazing. And I love the story of the seven people who could all fit into the fat man's jacket. So there's nothing new about obesity! Yes, the teddy bear eyes make Queen Elizabeth look quite terrifying....

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    1. Before I returned to Maldon I hadn't been for years either. It sure helps having someone to tell you what there is to see, or even show you around. But these days they have lots of boards all over the town with information about its history. The local history society has obviously been very busy!

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  14. I hope you feel better soon.
    Loved the trip. Cute B&B. That church seems so pure in its simplicity. The tapestry must have taken so long to sew. Love all the flowers. Just a wonderful post and glad to see you again. ;)

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    1. Thank you Rita, and I have been away again from Blogland for longer than I had planned. I'm going to be visiting very soon!

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  15. That was a cracker of a trip!
    Commiserations on the 'off'.. get the twisted bits seen too asap please...and Arnica inside and out(where skin is unbroken)works a treat.

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    1. Thanks! I had just got over that when the damn chain broke and I took another tumble. Not so much broken skin this time. :-/

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  16. Oh my, I hope your knee recovers quickly. My worst fear is not being mobile but a knee can be fixed and I hope it will be quick and not too painful.

    Essex looks delightful.

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  17. Maldon is worth a day out I must say. The barges do trips, a friend went on one recently and I think the tug allows people to wander over it at times. It is time I took the long bus route back to Maldon.
    The 'Pant' probably refers to the river. Rivers here change name and the River Pant becomes the River Blackwater as it goes under the bridge at Bocking though I do not know why. Cedd was indeed the first Christian missionary till a nervous Augustine Romanised what was to become England. He was Scot, therefore Irish as you know as the Irish were Scots until the Scots became Scots and the Irish, Irish. As you know.
    I would love to visit that Bradwell, quite a sight.
    Glad you enjoyed it and glad the sun shone for you.
    The pictures are great, especially the morning one of the barges, super!



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    1. You are not too far from Maldon I know so hopefully you can do a day trip. Or maybe you have already done one, I haven't been reading blog posts lately although I always try to keep up with yours. I had never heard of the River Pant, it sounds sort of Welsh doesn't it? I suspect the winter services might be very atmospheric - perhaps your church might like to take a group trip with a bus around Christmas - it's not only a half mile walk from the car park but it is also a pretty out of the way car park which I doubt can be reached by public transport. I just don't know what St. Cedd was thinking of - he really ought to have considered the bus routes!

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  18. A wonderful trip. Perhaps your grandmother's memories of life in Essex rooted her despite her desire for Ireland.

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    1. Maybe her husband didn't want to return to Ireland - he was English. We never could figure out why Essex though.

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  19. Oh Jenny, whenever you post I feel like I've died and gone to heaven in England! Essex and this town of Maldon sound wonderful. I loved your room (I looked up the website; I'd love to stay there -- what a view!) And the town looks fascinating and charming as well. That embroidery is beautiful and the stonework in the chapel is fascinating. The garden -- wow. I think gardens have their own beauty in this transition time with the grasses and seeds. The photo of the gladiola is fabulous. A perfect bloom. The Queen DOES look a tad demented in that revised sign!

    Most of all, I'm sorry to hear about your wrist and fall and hope all is well/better now. Your dinner out looked great and you'll have to let me know the name of the restaurant for the next-time list! Thanks for such wonderful photos and words!

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    1. Thanks Jeanie! Yes, the b&b is well worth a stay, the hosts really do try to go the extra mile. I plan to write an email to you shortly and will tell you the latest then! :)

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  20. Oh my, such a wonderful little adventure, So rich and full, Thank you so much, escape needed! Beautiful photos, LOVE the stones of the building and the pumpkin/squash thing, so much interesting texture, Would make lovely paintings. The seven hundred in a waist coat are hilarious, brilliant, very good story of a jolly fat man. Such stunning photos all around! Delightful and inspiring. I yearn....

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    1. Yes, if I had time to paint I'd be painting those beautiful things. Or even KNITTING the pumpkin! it hardly looks real to me. I'm glad you enjoyed the post, anything to cheer up is good, eh.

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  21. You've made Essex look inviting enough.

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    1. You have to choose the parts, it is a Jekyll and Hyde county.

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  22. I've seen portraits whose eyes seem to follow you around a room, but these on the pub sign are just scary! (lol)

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    1. Gave me a bit of a shock when I got up close, I'll admit!

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  23. My goodness! Coming off the bike must have shaken you up, Jenny, as well as causing physical damage. I hope all is well with you very soon. We don't expect you to compete in the Tour de France...so behave yourself!!! Take care. :)

    Great post, with wonderful photos...as always.

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    1. I managed to fall off again but suppose I'm getting used to it now :) luckily less damaging this time, and not my own stupid fault this time either.

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  24. I have to admit I've never been to Essex, but you've convinced me it's worth a visit :)

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  25. Sorry to hear about the fall and hope you're fully recovered. Is Maldon the home of that excellent salt? I agree about the Georgian food. Although horse can be indigestible I've had the best cheese-filled bread ever in a Georgian restaurant. That's a splendid model.

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    1. Yes, I'm better now. And sea salt does indeed seem to be one of the main exports. I have never, I am glad to say, eaten horse... oh, actually now I think of it I did eat it years ago in France - but not willingly. And this restaurant had really top cheese-filled bread. If it wasn't so obviously bad for you I'd have returned there already just for the cheese filled bread!!!

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  26. Absolutely lovely. I lived in Essex for a while, but never went there. What a pity. It looks as if I missed a treat. Your photos and descriptions are beautiful, Jenny.

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    1. A pity you missed Maldon. The estuary looks a bit muddy and shallow to me but I imagine your barge would have been OK. But perhaps you did not have a barge in those days.

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  27. Now Maldon and the church are my goal in my next visit to your country, Jenny. I like to study the history of Great Britain, I was interested in the London Museum, where panoramas of the ancient Roman village and Anglo-Saxon huts open. Funny, a monument to a fat gentleman and a portrait of Elizabeth I.
    I agree, Georgian cuisine is delicious, I loved to eat there when I was a student.

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    1. I hope you get to go - and I think you might like the RHS garden too. It was my first time trying Georgian cuisine, and I really did enjoy it.

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  28. Oh no - I hope you've healed from your fall off the bike! Since I just recently took up bicycling again (after not having done it for decades - many decades!) I'm very careful so that I won't fall.

    I had to laugh about the Queen's Head's pub sign - you have to love a pub with a sense of humor!

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    1. Yes, good idea to be careful, I am working on being careful but not so careful I start feeling uncertain. It's a kind of a psychological balancing act!

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  29. I love all the nature photos (I'm a fan of grasses, too) and also like that rough chapel.

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    1. Glad you like the photos. I've been catching up on blogs and am loving your trip to Iceland!

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  30. Sorry about your bike accident, but thanks for taking us on a delightful trip to Essex.

    Http://www.thepulpitandthepen.com

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  31. It was lovely to wander up and down this post during the day when I was near the laptop. I had dear friends in Great Totham near Malden so was very well acquainted with the latter.

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    1. What a nice idea. I like to think of you coming back to the post. We passed through Gt. Totham on the way to or from somewhere, and I seem to remember it as being a rather pretty little place. In fact, I think that's where we had an evening meal, in a very pleasant pub.

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    1. Thank you very much! Autumn in Japan is so beautiful, I hope you will enjoy it too.

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  33. I'm sorry to hear about your bike prang, hope you are healing ok and enjoying at least some blogging time. I don't know Maldon so enjoyed this little wander around with you. Have a great weekend
    Wren x

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    1. Glad you enjoyed Maldon on this little virtual tour :)

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  34. I hope the chapel will be kept in good condition forever.

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    1. I think it probably will. It is now cared for very carefully, but of course we never know what the future will hold.

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  35. So pleased I visited your blog.
    Husband Eddie and I love Maldon, so enjoyed seeing and reading your post … but hoping you feel better soon.

    All the best Jan

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    1. Thank you Jan. I always love to read posts about places I know myself. I often find that other people find things that I have not spotted myself, and I hope there were one or two small surprises for you in the post :)

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  36. The early morning boat looks great.

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    1. it is wonderful to ride on one of those boats when it is dawn or dusk. I have done so and the atmospehre is terrific!

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  37. Dear Jenny - I hope you already recovered from the injuries of bike accident. I think you have core strength and resilience. I would need more time to be healed when being thrown hard on to the ground as I get older.

    Your trip to Essex looks fun and interesting. The room is nice; I like the telescope at the window and overlooking the sea in mornings and evenings. I also like the grasses in the 14th photo, too.

    Yoko

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    1. Dear Yoko, yes, I think I must be quite strong. I was shaken but I got back on my bike and continued the ride both times, and this made me feel more competent. It is wonderful to have a telescope and see the world looking a little different, "out of touching distance"

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  38. Imagine, a chapel being used as a barn

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    1. They surprisingly often were! People in those days were kind of ignorant and once it wasn't being used as a chapel anymore they probably thought they might as well use it as a barn, if they needed a barn.

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