CYHA News
The Monthly Newsletter of Chelmsford YHA Local Group
September 2009
Barbecue Summer
Our recent trip to Constable Country was an enormous success. We had roughly equal numbers of walkers and cyclists there were plenty of opportunities to sample the local teas and beers (and maybe the odd cake).
Saturday saw the walkers head off up the Stour estuary and then across to Alton Water for lunch, heading back to Brantham via the Gardener’s Arms in nearby Stutton.
The cyclists also took in Alton Water, partaking of enormous slices of cake in the tea room. Naturally they didn’t go straight there, using a circuitous route via Harwich and even using a ferry.
The Stour Valley bunkhouse turned out to be a real find. Posher than most hostels, it was well provisioned with gleaming kitchen equipment and a large lawn area ideal for a summer barbecue. We even had perfect weather with scorching hot sunshine both days, unfortunately this was punctuated by some extraordinarily heavy rain timed perfectly to coincide with the barbecue brickettes coming up to temperature. Jim and Tom heroically braved the weather to service the barbecue whilst the rest of us mere mortals hid in the shelter of the veranda. Luckily the quality of the grub was enough to take our minds off the change in the weather.
By Sunday morning the skies had cleared and we were ready for another roaster of a day. Both the walkers and the cyclists headed off to Flatford & Dedham, but somehow managed to miss each other (each in the pub/teashop as the other was passing). Still we all managed to get together in the end, and so another great weekend ended!
Ali
Chishill/Chrishall Walk
Given our past record with north Essex walks, it was with some delight that we saw the sun come out this particular Sunday. Starting at Great Chishill windmill, just over the border in Cambridgeshire we were up and down over chalky downland alongside the border with Hertfordshire and back into Essex, winding up at the Red Cow in Chrishall just after lunch. On the way we passed the tri-county boundary and bagged the highest point in Essex (yeah, yeah, heard all the quips about needing an ice-axe and crampons), plus the county recorder for bearded cow-wheat wanting to know if we’d seen any.
The route back was a little shorter, but straight forward apart from a temporary mis-placing of one of our group. Oops. Still all made it back to the windmill eventually. A super day out.
Ali
Where for art thou Romeo?
Thanks go to Helen who went to all the trouble of organising this trip, only not to be able to go herself. We had a splendid, sunny day in London (just as well with the Shakespeare’s Globe theatre being open air), with a great performance of Romeo & Juliet all rounded of by a really nice meal in a Mediterranean Bistro just round the corner. Just a shame no one wanted to try one of those enormous chocolate meringues – I was itching to see how you’re supposed to tackle one!
Ali
Notice
The Annual General Meeting
will be held on Wednesday 7th October at 8:30pm at the YMCA, Victoria Road, Chelmsford.
Agenda to include Secretary’s, Treasurer’s and Chairman’s report, Election of the Committee.
Written motions for the meeting may be
sent to the Secretary, Dave Julian,
Stour Valley Rambles
The weekend of 1st- 2nd August found us at YHA Stour Valley at Brantham Hall outside Manningtree on the north shore of the Stour. This is an area of Suffolk that I had not visited before. I found the hostel very comfortable and probably the best-appointed that I have stayed in during the last few years. It is located on Brantham Hall farm, which is a working farm of 1000 hectares. The hostel looks across a small meadow to Brantham Hall itself, a grand Georgian farmhouse with a well-preserved facade. I thought it evocative of a Jane Austen novel. With a little imagination you could see the local gallants and debutantes rolling up in the glow of the summer evening for the party of the season in their traps, being greeted by the host and servants, discussing the latest news of Boney and the doings of the local volunteers in Spain.
The walk on Saturday took us along the north shore of the Stour, along the piled bank built over three centuries to reclaim and drain land. On the other side were the mudflats and in the distance on the south bank the town on Mistley, once (like Hockley) Essex’s answer to Bath Spa but which never progressed very far. (The stone swans outside the Old Customs House are the sole remnants of this project). Mistley, like so many places on this coast, had a notable history as a port and even today has some traffic. One of its more recent claims to fame is as the residence of the first man to fly an aircraft from a battleship. (The propulsion mechanism apart from its engine was two burly naval ratings hanging onto its tail while the pilot revved the engine).
To the west we could make out Manningtree, historically one of the smallest towns in England and the home (supposedly) of Matthew Hopkins, Witchfinder-General during the days of the Republic. It is quite a nice place to wander round, but one not for this trip.
This coastline is so steeped in the past that it really does feel like an ongoing tale with ourselves just the custodians of the day. Up the coast is Dunwich, once one of the major ports in England; now just a single church wall stands. The monks of nearby Warbleswick (dissolved, of course, by Henry) exported their wine through here. On Harwich roads the minesweepers and frigates of the Kaiser’s navy were scuttled by their crews at the end of the Great War, providing work for salvors for the next two years. And at nearby Orfordness Watson-Watt tested his radar in the 1930s, our single greatest asset for the gathering storm.
Walking east along the seawall we stopped for a rest on Holbrook Bay. This commanded a good view of Harwich and Felixstowe, and a feature of both was the cranes, standing like giant sleeping insects against the horizon. Continuing on, we turned inland and passed through the village of Stutton. This looks a nondescript spot on the OS map, but, like so many other places in England, is actually a pretty little village, with some very old, picturesque cottages. We passed by the gates of splendid-looking Crowe Hall, another country pile redolent of Jane Austen and the vanished world of class, soirees and gentle tête-à-têtes over tea on a Sunday afternoon.
Heading further inland we walked along the banks of Alton Water and then past Tattingstone Wonder. This proved to be a house built in the style of a church, including a tower, albeit hollow with three sides. Ali advised that this ‘folly’ was the work of the local 19th century estate owner, who wanted a church on his estate and accommodation for his bailiff. So a folly solved both requirements. We spent a pleasant hour in a pub near the Wonder, and then hiked back to the Stour via the grounds of Tattingstone Place, yet another imposing pile and probably the residence of the grandee who wanted to see a church from his window.
Saturday night was barbecue night and Jim did us all proud. Later John and Judy gave a slideshow of photos taken on their recent trek on Spitsbergen.
On Sunday a small party of us visited Woodbridge and spent a pleasant morning wandering the town. We went on to visit a vineyard outside Colchester and spent a pleasant hour tasting the wine on offer. The owner sells his produce to restaurants in Colchester and elsewhere, so the next time you eat there ask for a Colchester wine – very recommended.
A thoroughly pleasant weekend. I’ll look forward to returning to Brantham.
John Maton
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