Thursday 4 October 2018

The Countryside Slumbers


The commuters have left on the train to London, children are in school, but this morning the land sleeps on. Grey curtains of cloud allow just a veiled and muted light to fall gently upon the fields. Deep silence hangs over the distant trees, with just a whisper of autumn gold. 



We're starting today from the little Essex town of Newport and heading into farming country. Most of the fields are now lying brown and bare after the bustle and activity of harvest time. Flocks of Rooks probe craftily for any worms they can find in the newly cultivated fields.



An old barn stands battered and proud on the skyline as we follow a farm track along the edge of a wood.



Cock Pheasants parade around self-importantly, blissfully unaware that it's now the shooting season in England. Keep your heads down at the weekend, my beauties!



A handful of picturesque thatched cottages form the isolated hamlet of Rook End.



Our path then dives into woodland and follows a tiny stream through the trees where just a hint of autumn is scattered on the quiet waters.



Debden church was once dowdy and unremarkable till the owners of the Hall added fanciful pinnacles, a tall spire and an ornate apse. All this was simply to improve the view of it from Debden Hall and to impress any visitors or passers-by. The spire has long gone and its replacement is a more modest affair.



But we can still go inside to see the fancy apse with its miniature vaulted ceiling.



We saw this building in a long-ago post. All I could tell you about it then was that I had no clear idea what it was. I didn't know much more today but met a man, out walking his dog, who thought it was a stable block for the hall. When I got home I rummaged through the internet once more and - hey, presto - found a historic buildings report that confirmed that it once housed stables, it also contained a coach house, harness-rooms, storage for hay and accommodation for a coachman and  stable hands. It was older than I thought too, dating from the early 1700s. Nowadays it languishes unloved and largely unused, apart from sheltering bits of agricultural equipment.



The ornamental lake is still here too, though the hall itself was demolished in 1936 as the family could no longer afford the upkeep. No longer required by the privileged few, the glistening waters can now be enjoyed by anyone out walking the footpaths.



And those paths lead us through this little valley, back towards Newport. In the lower right of the picture are the remains of a WWII "pill-box" (a guard post or blockhouse). There are several of these in the area, perhaps associated with the nearby wartime airfield.



It's so deserted and peaceful here today that it's difficult to imagine it teeming with soldiers and military vehicles. Today, apart from us, there were just a few sheep and a flock or two of Wood Pigeons.



Then we're suddenly back in the busy little town of Newport which is mostly strung out along the road which, before the M11 motorway was built in the nineteen-seventies, was the main highway from London towards Newmarket and on to Norwich.



This is just one of the historic buildings that line the main street, a reminder of the heyday of the town.


Take care.



18 comments:

  1. Wonderful - those photographs make me homesick.

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  2. A wonderful walk through a beautiful landscape. I always find these old buildings that are still standing are nice relics and insights to the past.

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  3. The last photo shows incredible workmanship.

    I love you poetic descriptions, John. And your photo are exceptional!

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  4. I felt as if I were stepping into the countryside with you on your well depicted, and well-described walk. However, much as I looked, I couldn't find the pheasants. I guess they are safe from hunters after all!

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  5. Another beautiful walk in the countryside there. Love this picturesque journey.

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  6. Great description and photography on this walk.

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  7. What a wonderfully peaceful walk John, could almost smell the events of the English countryside 😊 The workmanship that went I to those old houses is fantastic, it's no wonder they survive the centuries ✨

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  8. That would be 'scents' of the English countryside 😀

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  9. I can't imagine that church being dowdy and unremarkable, I love it!

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  10. Hi John - a perfect post ... from a delightful area - that I haven't seen or experienced before. Such a pity that building isn't being put to better use - sincerely hope it doesn't deteriorate much more. Gorgeous English landscape - fascinating buildings too ... enjoy more walks - cheers Hilary

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  11. How lovely! Your talent for writing so perfectly matches your talent for photography!

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  12. Autumn colours are starting to show! And that's a lovely cottage.

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  13. Such pretty scenes. Love that old cottage in the last shot.

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  14. Thank you for the peaceful walk through the farms and the wood. Loved the thatched roof house and the old building in town. Shocked to hear that shooting pheasants is still allowed.

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  15. Lucky you spoke with that dog walker. A good lead to ferret out! Also, I love the brickwork in the old half timber building, probably because I've never seen something like that before.

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  16. I always enjoy your forays into the countryside. The English countryside is so distinctive, especially when you come upon on churches, halls, barns, stables. My old neighborhood in California had a cottage with a thatched roof! True! An odd site just across the road from a Spanish style Catholic church. The one time I remember the roof being worked on, I remember it going on forever. A laborious process. A typical English cottage plunked down in Carmel, California.

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  17. A beautiful hike and photos! I like the old bard photo, but I think my favorite is photo #4. Beautiful composition, balance and colors!

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  18. That vaulted ceiling is beautiful...a different sort of beauty to the rest of the photos. Love the one of the leaves in the water...and the views showing the lane you're walking down.

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