Little did we know, as we were doing the
Brancaster walk in Norfolk at the end of May, that we would be in for such a glorious summer in the south of England. In stark contrast to last year, with all its rain and flooding (see the account of our
Irchester walk in July 2012), this summer's walking has been incredibly easy-going, with our main concerns being our supply of water and sun-cream!
So, it was with no small amount of excitement, that we found ourselves on a bright Friday evening, trundling along the West Anglia main line, which runs from London's Liverpool Street station, all the way to Cambridge. We seem to be on a bit of a roll this summer, as far as East Anglia is concerned, and this was our second walk in the East, although our first Chester walk in the counties of Essex and Cambridgeshire.
Second walk in East Anglia
If Great Chesterford is really in Essex, then it's most certainly in the posh part of Essex and a million miles away from Essex's more famous metropolises, like Basildon, Tilbury and Harlow. Great Chesterford is a pretty village but has the feeling of being a commuter or 'sleeper' town - there isn't much in the village in the way of shops and I doubt that a lot happens in Great Chesterford, although it does have a couple of nice pubs.
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| The Crown House Hotel, Great Chesterford |
We stayed at the
Crown House Hotel, which was quite pleasant and a lot quieter than in erstwhile years, when it was a major drinking den for those involved in the Newmarket races - apparently, previous crowds at the Crown House in Great Chesterford were so rowdy that a law was brought in to stop Sunday drinking at the Newmarket races. We were much better behaved and had a very quiet and uneventful stay.
Germaine Greer lives in Great Chesterford, which is a bit of a coincidence - not only because I have mentioned her in a
previous Chester blog, but also because I wanted to see her at Latitude Festival in Suffolk, only a week before, but missed her because she was delayed in traffic. Seems like we're fated to keep missing each other!
Essex Village signs
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| Great Chesterford village sign |
We really loved the village signs in Great Chesterford and Hadstock, which was later on our route. It's the first time we've really noticed village signs on our Chester walks and, apparently, the tradition originated in Norfolk and then became popular all over the country - especially when the Daily Mail ran a competition for the 'best village sign' in 1920 and the winning designs were exhibited in Australia House in London!
The signs depict elements of local life and are very beautiful to look at. There is a Village Sign society which has its own
website. We'll certainly keep an eye out for more of these on future Chester walks!
Great Chesterton to Burtonwood Farm (1.75 miles/2.8 kilometres)
Still being in 'London' mode when we left for the walk, I'd assumed that I would be able to pick up essential supplies, including bottled water, in the village shop in Great Chesterford. Unfortunately, there was nowhere to buy water, so I found myself setting out on, possibly the hottest walk we've done so far, rather poorly equipped to deal with the rising temperatures! Luckily BAM (Best Aussie Mate) is much more organised than I am and had an extra bottle of water that she could lend me, until we got to a more shopper-friendly place!
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| Pink cottage, Great Chesterford |
Leaving the hotel, we walked down Church Street, past All Saints church, then followed South Street onto the High Street until it met with the B184 road. Another interesting thing we've noticed in East Anglia is that many of the houses are 'whitewashed' in pink - it's a tradition which originates in Suffolk and, originally, pig's blood was mixed with the lime whitewash, to give houses in East Anglia their lovely pink colour. We saw quite a few pink buildings on our Great Chesterford walk.
Click on the following
link to read an interesting article about a woman in Suffolk who was forced to 'pinkwash' her house!
Once we'd crossed the main road, we followed Cow Lane, past Little Paddocks Kennels and Cattery, then turned right on the lane which runs past Burton Wood towards Burtonwood Farm.
Burtonwood Farm to Hadstock (2.4 miles/3.9 kilometres)
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| Countryside Essex/Cambridgeshire border |
The path we followed on this walk is called the
Icknield Way and forms part of the longer
Ridgeway that runs across England, from Exeter (where we have
also been, as part of our Chester walks) to the Wash, where it joins the coastal path we walked on in Norfolk!
It's believed to be the oldest path in England and was of strategic importance, as a walking and transport route, when the Romans arrived in Britain, in the first century of our Common Era (CE). It's also the reason why Great Chesterford was founded, as a staging post on this route and an important Roman town.
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| Path through Paddock Wood |
At Burtonwood Farm, the Icknield Way divides in two sections, which we decided we would do as a loop - eventually returning to the farm and back to Great Chesterford, where we started. We walked the loop anti-clockwise, which meant that we would soon pass through the village of Hadstock, hoping to top up our dwindling water supply. The countryside is pleasant in this part of England, but unremarkable and we marvelled, yet again, at how quiet and empty East Anglia seems to be, in contrast to other parts of England that we have walked in.
Hadstock to Linton (1.6 miles/2.6 kilometres)
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| Hadstock Village sign |
Our hopes of finding a shop in Hadstock were quickly dashed, but luckily the kind owner of
The King's Head let us fill up our water bottles in his pub. We had a rest on a well-placed bench on Back Hill and talked about the relationship between humans and dogs, as we watched some dog-owners arriving in their cars for a meet-up on the village green. It was a very pleasant walk along Bartlow Road and Chalky Road, which is just a track really, leading us across the Essex/Cambridgeshire border to the nearby village of Linton.
Linton to Burtonwood Farm (2.9 miles/4.6 kilometres)
Linton is another pretty little village, although this time well-supplied with shops, restaurants and other facilities. We noticed lots of interesting designs on the buildings in Linton - a kind of etching or relief-decoration in the plasterwork, which is known as
pargeting. Again, this seems to be an East Anglian tradition and, with the pink houses and village signs, added to a very educational day in terms of architectural traditions in this part of England!
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| Pargeting on a building in Linton, Cambs |
We stocked up on water again and made our way down to St Mary's Church, where we had a rest and some lunch in the churchyard. Unfortunately, on opening my walking pack, I realised that an open bar of chocolate had melted all over the interior, leaving quite a sticky, yummy mess that BAM did her best to clean off, with hand wipes and pieces of tissue! Once we'd recovered from 'Chocolategate', we set off again, crossing the River Granta on Horn Lane.
We then walked along the High Street and crossed the main Cambridge road, before leaving the village along a small lane, interestingly named,
The Grip. For such a small place, we were surprised to find out that Linton has its own
Zoo, run by the Simmons family from Hertfordshire!
Not long after the Zoo, the Icknield Way heads off through the countryside again, a rather pleasant walk along hedgerows and the edge of wheatfields, until you find yourself back at Burtonwood Farm.
Burtonwood Farm to Great Chesterton (1.75 miles/2.8 kilometres)
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| Icknield Way, oldest path in England |
We don't often retrace our steps on these Chester walks, so it was interesting to see how different the path from Burtonwood Farm to Great Chesterton looked like, with a reverse view and at a different time of day. We were very lucky to stumble upon
The Plough public house, where we had a really tasty evening meal, before catching our train back to London. We highly recommend their Bulgarian
kyufte and
kebapche!
Access for Wheelchair Users
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| Relatively traffic-free Bartlow Road |
Unfortunately, this walk is only partly accessible for wheelchair users. It's fully accessible from Great Chesterford to Burtonwood Farm (but not beyond that). I would also recommend the accessible part from Hadstock to Linton, perhaps doing a loop and returning along the Linton Road, although this might be fairly busy with traffic. Certainly the Bartlow Road and Chalky Road sections are fairly quiet. All three villages are relatively accessible and interesting to explore, because of the range of architectural features mentioned above.
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