The Isle of Bards and Saints

Picture of Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island) off the Llyn Peninsula, North Wales on New Year's Day (yesterday).  A superb walk from Abedaron following "in the footsteps of medieval pilgrams".  Walk 15 "Snowdonia, Anglesey, Llyn" pathfinder guide (sheet 10).    

Update: rest of pictures from walk here

Newport and Debden Boxing Day Walk 2010

Another great country walk.  The snow, ice and light was fantastic.  Only 6.5 miles but absolutely gorgeous from beginning to end. 40 minutes away by car from Newham.  It is even relatively hilly - for Essex.   Only fell over (spectacularly of course) once due to ice.  Lots of crunchy snow for most of the route.  Check out Pathfinder Essex Guide (Walk 20).  The last time we did this walk was only 2 days after the 2005 7/7 London bombings.  I wrote at the time "lovely to get out to beautiful, peaceful countryside".   Posted other photos of walk on Facebook.

John's Autumn Watch

Off message but last weekend I went for a marvellous Autumnal walk in the Chilterns.  It is apparently a particularly "bountiful" season this year with lots of fruit and berries.  Thanks to the cold winter last year which killed off fungi and pests with a warm but showery summer.  Double click photos to bring up detail.

In the weak sunshine and long shadows the trees are starting to change colours.  It had rained the day before and there was that lovely wet, musty muddy smell in the woods. 

There were some huge birds of prey floating up high looking for dinner and a very disdainful small deer (left - Munjac?) who hopped away like a rabbit.   

The walk was (number 15) "Great Hampden and Little Hampden".  There were simply superb views all along the route.  It was only 6.5 miles and while up and down there was nothing too strenuos. 

There was a little bit of history at Hampden House which is the site (right) of the home of John Hampden, the leading Parliamentarian whose refusal to pay Ship Tax in 1641 was one of the triggers of the English Civil War.  See - the British if pushed too far can be rebellious! (not that Revolution did poor John much good)

The rolling hills and beech woods of the Chilterns are deservedly an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and only a few miles from London.  It can get very crowded in the more popular spots but this walk was quiet and very peaceful.  Recommended.

The Tolpuddle Martyrs and the Essex Saxon Church

On Sunday morning I was looking for a short walk in the nearby countryside and picked this “Chipping Ongar and Greensted Church” walk from the Essex “Pathfinder” series. I had read about the 11th century Saxon Church at Greensted and how it is reputed to be the oldest wooden building in the world.

The walk started in Chipping Ongar which is a lovely Essex county village and was only a 20 minutes drive from Newham. It was a great little walk (4.5 miles), warm sunshine and cool breezes with hardly a sole to be seen. A little bit flat but lots of greenery and shade in very ancient woods, enclosed paths and lanes. The church itself was of course chocolate box perfect inside and out (see picture) and it is to me amazing that this building (well, parts of it) has been used continually by the local community, as a place of worship, for just under a 1000 years. There is still a regular service each Sunday at 9.30am.

I then bought a guidebook (via the unmanned honesty box ) and was astonished to read that there was a very topical labour movement history connection with the church. Since the Tolpuddle Martyrs after they had been released from slave labour and transportation to Australia had been unable to return to Dorset due to opposition from local landlords. So they had been given farm tenancies in Greensted and High Laver. One of the Martyrs, James Bine, had actually married Elizabeth Standfield (daughter of another Martyr) at the Church in 1839. The rector of the church later opposed the renewal of the farm tenancies and they emigrated to Canada. (for what it is worth I use to be the estate officer for “James Brine House” in Bethnal Green in the early 1990s).

The weekend after next it is the annual festival at Tolpuddle which I was planning to go down and visit with some West Ham Labour Party comrades but this hasn’t worked out this year since there a number of things going on in London that weekend as well (e.g. Labour Housing Group AGM). Hopefully next year we can organise something better, but I was glad to visit Greensted and enjoy all its history and in a little way, honour the Martyrs nearer to home.

So - if you can’t make it to Dorset on the 16/18 July weekend but have transport, walking boots and sun hat - then I recommend you buy the same guidebook and take yourself off to Chipping Ongar!