Pepper's Green to Great Waltham 8½ miles
The fourth leg of the Essex Way took me in arc north west of Chelmsford from Pepper's Green to Great Waltham. The weather was once again fine and sunny but the scenery much more autumnal than last week. I had to persuade a rather sceptical bus driver that the 59 to Harlow really did stop where I said it did. As you can see there's not a lot there. Of Salt's Green on the opposite side of the A1060 there was no sign. Most of the day was spent on bridleways, byways and grassy footpaths with just one muddy field to cross.
Spotting this deer was the highlight of the day. Deer must have very good hearing as Bambi took off when I pressed the focus button. I think it's a fallow deer but I'm not sure. It was a good day for wildlife as I also spotted a fox later in the day. The day's route took in three villages, Good Easter, Pleshey and Great Waltham. They have an unusual firework night in Good Easter, you bring your own fireworks. I hope no one invites Mario Balotelli. However it's a village without a pub, so I pressed on to Pleshey.
On the way to Pleshey I passed the twenty mile mark, which is a quarter of the way along. Pleshey was once a very important place in Essex. The motte and bailey castle was home to various Earls of Essex before passing to Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester. He got bumped of by Richard II and the castle fell into decay. Next time you watch Shakespeare's Richard II listen out for the name check in Act 1, Scene II. The whole village is still enclosed by the earthworks and ditches. What is left of the castle is privately owned but there is a lovely little park by the moat for everyone to enjoy.
Lunch was taken at the Leather Bottle, (tuna bagette and orange juice and lemonade, £6.49). Pleshey has two pubs and a big Victorian church with a rather cute turret. There are plenty of footpaths so it's not a bad place to visit. It's only a couple of miles to the bus stop in Great Waltham following the course of Walthambury brook. The bus was on time, I saw it whizz along the main road when I still had about 300 metres to go. Sadly the next one was late but there was a seat in the bus stop. I've now gone a quarter of the distance in cloudless conditions. Brilliant!.Some Essex Way facts
Progress along the route 24 miles. Total miles walked 33.5 miles.
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1 comment:
Very entertaining read - thanks Jill and good luck for the rest of the route. I fear that the next few legs will not be as cloudless. Unfortunately all my deer photos are of their backsides as they flee in the opposite direction. I think they find it hard to differentiate between a shutter and a trigger..
richard
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