Danbury to Beesleigh Falls, Essex 2nd October 2023

 GPX File Here

On Monday the 2^nd October 2023 Sean and I drove to Essex Outdoors Centre on Well Lane Danbury.

The aim was to risk assess a 12 mile route I had planned for the Police cadets Duke of Edinburgh Bronze practice.

We parked up and walked up Well Lane onto Main Road and up a footpath that takes us out to Riffhams Lane.

On Riffhams Lane we can see Riffhams Hall.

The estate of which Old Riffhams was a capital messuage was owned by the Clerke family up until 1801. In the late C18 Martha, daughter and heiress of Robert Clerke, married Charles Phillips, who in default of heirs, left the estate to his great-nephew John Robert Spencer. On inheriting in 1809, John took the additional name of Phillips. Instead of altering the old manor house, he chose to build a new mansion on a spectacular site c 600m to the south-west of the old one. He began the house, which he called Riffhams, in 1815, the same year in which Humphry Repton (1752-1818) was called in to give advice on the grounds. Although a Red Book was not prepared, Repton advised on the location of the new house and prepared 'a panoramic sketch of the views from the site proposed for Riffham's Lodge' (Repton watercolour (copy), UEA). In 1836 Wright included an engraving in his History of Essex which shows the early C19 flower gardens and shrubberies. John Spencer died in 1874, aged eighty-seven years. The estate was inherited by his son Major John Charles Spencer-Phillips but was let to a Mrs E Kirk and then to Mr and Mrs Charles Parker in c 1904. During their tenancy the Danbury Flower Show was held in the grounds. In 1928 the house was occupied by Sir Adam and Lady Richie and in 1933 Percy Tyrell Spencer Phillips put it on the market. It was purchased by Sir Follett Holt, a railway engineer. Sir Follett's son sold Riffhams in c 1968 to the Benson family. In 1976 the estate was again put up for sale and the house and park were purchased by the Hindmarch family. The estate remains in single private ownership.

We walk on up Riffhams Lane for a while before taking a footpath into the woods at Lingwood Common.

We emerge from the woods after a uphill stretch and cross the road into Fir Tree Road and follow this road down into woods called Poors Piece.

We follow this path on into Woodham Walter Common. We reach the golf course but we need to turn before this so a short backtrack and we follow a path through the woods and out into Spring Elms Poultry Farm and out to a road at Crossways.

We take a path off the junction here across West Bowers Farm and pass an Ariel Antenna array.

We then take a path that runs diagonally across the farm and pass some horses here, they we had to stop and say hello to.

We turn right onto West Bowers Road and walk a short way up and take another path on our left and follow this across to Little London Lane and up this road to another path and follow this down to Hoe Mill Lock.

The path ahead had been ploughed and rolled and was soft underfoot going across.

We follow the road for a short way before going through a gate and following the footpath towards Hoe Mill.

We walk onto Hoe Mill Lock Road and up to Hoe Mill Lock itself.

Hoe Mill Lock is lock 9 of 12 on the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation.

The navigation runs from Springfield Basin in Chelmsford to the sea lock at Heybridge Basin near Maldon. It has six bridges and drops 75 feet (23 m) through 12 locks from the basin to the sea. There is also a set of flood gates at Beeleigh, which prevents water from the River Blackwater flooding the cut to Heybridge Basin. The navigation meanders in a broadly west to east direction between Chelmsford and Maldon, through countryside which is largely arable, and although it passes near to a number of villages, all of them are set back some distance from the waterway.

Hoe Mill Lock has the largest drop on the Navigation, at 8 feet and 3 inches. As a result there is a danger of swamping the boats when filling the lock, and so the lock paddles on the upper gates are located in underground side culverts. The lock is named after a corn mill which had existed near the site from Saxon times to 1914 when it was demolished. In 1795, Hoe Mill was bought by Robert Marriage. His sons, Robert and James, inherited the mill. They were both Quakers and deeply opposed to the slave trade.

They decided to build a sugar beet mill on the banks of the canal, believing that locally produced beet sugar would undermine the importation of cane sugar largely produced in the Caribbean using slave labour. Their aim was "a desire to obtain the best information and to promote the abolition of slavery, by producing an article of free labour." The mill was sited half a mile downstream from Hoe Mill, near where this walk first joins the towpath. The mill employed 30 men, women and children. The process of converting beet into sugar consisted of first rasping the sugar beet roots and then crushing the beet to a pulp which was pressed. The resulting liquor was reduced by boiling and then clarified, then finally any remaining liquid was evaporated off and the residue crystallised. The left-over pulp was used as cattle feed. Sadly the mill failed after just 2 years partly, it is believed, through the resistance of various influential businessmen who wished to continue to import from the West Indies.

We now follow the pretty Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation path, the river is very popular with canoes, kayaks, paddleboarders and pleasure boats.

 We stop at a bench by Hoe Mill Lock for lunch before walking on.

We follow the river for quite a way now.

Wild hops growing by the riverside.

We walk under the pipe bridge that carries water from the nearby water pumping station.

We reach the Beeleigh Locks and walk on by.

Beeleigh is home to some of the falls and locks and weir on the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation.

The Navigation was built in the 1790's to enable transport of goods by horse drawn barge to and from Chelmsford. The town of Maldon had opposed the canal and so the canal had to be cut by hand from here to bypass Maldon and lead to Heybridge Basin on the Blackwater estuary.

The main weir enabled the canal to remain at a constant height when the river was in flood and it is quite a sight when that happens with the water cascading over the weir and into the river Chelmer on it's way to the Estuary via Maldon, passing Fullbridge before reaching the Hythe where it becomes known as the Blackwater.

Here, the rivers Chelmer and Blackwater meet creating a very special environment.

From here, you can walk the old towpath track to Heybridge and further on to Heybridge Basin.

We take a footpath near the lock and walk up to Beeleigh Falls.

The ‘falls’ are certainly not your typical waterfall of outstanding beauty, but there is beauty in the calm river, the sound of the water rushing down the weir into the reeds and the contrast of man-made and natural, all in one place.

We walk on crossing the bridge over the falls and follow a footpath through a wooded path.

          This brings us out to a road called Abbey Turning. Here I now reach Beeleigh Steam Mill.

Beeleigh mill was a large flour mill on the river Chelmer near Maldon, Essex. It had two water wheels driving 10 stones (later 12), to which was added a separate building which housed a steam-powered beam engine driving five millstones. The main building housing the water-powered wheels burnt down in a fire in 1875.

The site, which is Grade II, now comprises the building housing the steam engine and the drive gearing for its millstones, the brick housing for one of the waterwheels, and the two adjacent brick-lined barge docks used for loading flour for shipment to London.

The steam mill is divided into 2 rooms, separated by a brick partition. The smaller north-western part is full height and contains the complete iron, double-acting Wentworth compound steam beam engine which was installed in 1845. Alongside is an ‘Elephant’ boiler with 2 safety valves and firebox. It is the only surviving example of this type of boiler in England, though it was more popular in France and Belgium.

The ground floor of the larger room contains the drive gears including a circular-plan iron hurst with an iron upright shaft with great spur wheel, which drives each of the five pairs of stones.

The upper floor has the emplacements for the stones. The drive shafts are in place, but the stones themselves are no longer there.

Although not currently visible, a hide-out was built during WW2 under the floor of the steam mill for an auxiliary unit to hide should the enemy invade. Access was from a trapdoor in the building, with an escape route which came out in the tail-race tunnel from the nearer mill-race. After the war, this hide-out was filled in by the army.

Now we pass Kingfisher Cottage on my right, surrounded by water. No kingfisher today, not what I could see anyway!

I take a footpath across the fields of Beeleigh Grange Farm.

We pass an amazing property at Woodlands.

We follow along Hop Gardens Lane.

At the end of the Lane we cross over onto a footpath opposite.

We follow a footpath over Whitehouse Farm and over into some woods called The Wilderness.

Sean and I are really out in the Wilderness now ha ha! 

We emerge out onto The Street and to the Bell Pub.

Sadly the pub is closed and we walk on with a major thirst.

We walk through the woods pass Warren Lodges Holiday Park.

We are now out onto The Warren Golf Club. As usual as per most golf courses there are very little in the way of footpath signs, other than look out for stray golf balls.

We find our way across the golf course and out onto a place called Twitty Fee.

We follow this back into Poors Piece and is now a steep climb back uphill. I thought the cadets will love this climb after a long walk.

We follow the path back out onto Main Road and we walk this back towards Danbury.

We pass the War memorial on my left by Elm Green.

The aftermath of the First World War saw the biggest single wave of public commemoration ever with tens of thousands of memorials erected across England. This was the result of both the huge impact on communities of the loss of three quarters of a million British lives, and also the official policy of not repatriating the dead which meant that the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss.

One such memorial was raised at Danbury as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by 24 members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War.

Danbury War Memorial was unveiled on 31 July 1920 by Field Marshal Sir WR Robertson. It was built to the Cross of Sacrifice design which was devised in 1919 by Sir Reginald Blomfield (1856-1942) for war cemeteries abroad, although it was also widely adopted in Britain.

The memorial consists of a c 7.3m high Portland stone Latin cross rising from an octagonal plinth on a four-stepped base. A bronze Sword of Sacrifice is fixed to the south face of the cross.

The south face of the plinth bears the incised inscription IN THANKFULNESS TO GOD/AND IN MEMORY OF THE MEN OF DANBURY WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR MDCCCCXIV MDCCCCXVII. The names of the 24 First World War fallen are recorded on the north, east and west faces of the plinth.

We walk on and reach The Bell Pub where we stop for a drink before walking back to the car for the drive home.

Castle Combe, Wiltshire 23rd September 2023

On Saturday the 23rd September 2023 after a visit to Glastonbury Somerset, we drove on to Castle Combe in Wiltshire. We parked up in the visitor car park on Dunns Lane and walked down into the village. Castle Combe is a truly delightful example of the traditional English village.

We pass the 12th century Castle Inn.

Next to this is the market cross.

The 14th-century market cross, erected when the privilege to hold a weekly market in Castle Combe was granted, stands where the three principal streets of the lower village converge. The Market Cross, a Scheduled Monument, reflects "the significance of the cloth industry in this area". Next to the cross is one of Castle Combe's two village pumps. Small stone steps near the cross were for horse riders to mount and dismount, and close by are the remains of the buttercross, built in the late 19th century from old masonry. This structure, "also known as Weavers’ Steps and ‘the stone’", is another Scheduled Monument.

The village takes its name from the 12th-century castle which stood about 1⁄3 mile (500 m) to the north. The site where the castle once stood now only contains the old earthworks and masonry, which are estimated to date from the 12th century. It is believed that the castle was constructed as the seat of the Barony of Combe under Reginald de Dunstanville either during the reign of Henry I or his son. Reginald was thought to support Empress Matilda during the Anarchy, and the castle was constructed during the wave of castle buildings of the Anarchy period.

Architecturally, little has changed since the 15th century; there are no street lights or TV aerials and, as you savour the peaceful atmosphere, you will understand why it has won the coveted “Prettiest Village in England” award so many times. Castle Combe is also a favoured location for Hollywood film and television companies.

The land above Castle Combe was originally home to a Roman Villa vacated in the 5th Century AD. Little happened until Reginald de Dunstanville built a Norman Castle on Castle Hill during the English Civil War of 1135-1154, so putting the 'Castle' into Castle Combe.

By the 14th Century this Norman castle had fallen into a state beyond repair and a new Manor House was built in the shelter of the valley below. The Manor House, now our hotel, is still on the same site today though little remains of the original structure.

The Middle Ages were to be a very prosperous time for Castle Combe when much of the village as we see today was constructed; the reason for this prosperity was the growth of a thriving cloth industry. Benefiting from the wool from huge local flocks of sheep, the fast flowing Bybrook River, fullers earth and the great skill of local weavers.

The red and white Castle Combe cloth became renowned not only in the markets of Bristol and Cirencester but also in London and abroad. With increasing size and wealth came greater stature and the right to hold a weekly market was granted by Henry VI in 1440 centred on the market cross - the focal point of the village.

The industry however diminished in the 16th Century with the slowing of the flow of the Bybrook, the cloth manufacture moved to other nearby areas in Gloucestershire, but not before Castle Combe was left with the buildings that make it the remarkable village it remains today.

Castle Combe has long been a favoured location by Hollywood film, television and advertising companies. Given that there are no TV aerials or telegraph poles in sight, the whole village makes the perfect filmset.

In 1967 'Dr Dolittle' was filmed in the village starring Rex Harrison and Anthony Newley. Castle Combe was transformed into the seaport of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh.

In recent years other major Hollywood films have been shot here such as 'Stardust' (2008), 'The Wolfman' (2009) and in 2010 Steven Spielberg shot scenes for the film adaptation of 'War Horse'. TV programmes such as 'Poirot' and 'Robin of Sherwood' have also been filmed in the village.

We stop off at the tearoom at the old stables for tea and cake.

We stop off at the tearoom at the old stables for tea and cake.

We walk back through the village.

We pass St Andrews Church.

Although outwardly you can see signs of a thriving village from the medieval period (1066-1485), there were much earlier residents in this wooded valley. Long before the arrival of the Romans in Britain in 43 AD, there is evidence of an early Celtic tribe’s pagan temple where St Andrew’s now stands.

Originally founded in the 13th century, the church building has grown and evolved over the centuries. The nave was added in the 14th century and the tower completed in the 16th century. As a result of the church falling into serious disrepair, a substantial amount of rebuilding of the church had to take place in 1850-51. An annex to the north side of the church housing some modern amenities was completed in 2018.

Following the Norman invasion of England in 1066, lands of the defeated Saxon aristocracy were bestowed by King William I (the Conqueror) on his Knights. The Manor (estate) of “Cumbe”, as Castle Combe was then known, was bestowed on a nobleman, Humphrey de L’Isle. His daughter married Reginald de Dunstanville, who became the first Baron/Lord of Castle Combe. For over 850 years, Castle Combe was a barony and evidence of the Lords of the Manor and their families through this period can be found in the church and churchyard.

On the north side of the church is a superb carved stone monument of a Norman Knight, Sir Walter de Dunstanville, Baron of Castle Combe, who died in 1270. Above the tomb, a stained glass window displays the coats of arms of the Scrope family (pronounced “Scroop”), who were Lords of the Manor for almost 500 years before selling the estate at auction to a member of the Lancastrian Gorst family in 1867.

The tower was started in 1434 with monies from local wealthy wool merchants and from the estate of Sir John Fastolf. The tower’s beautiful fan vault ceiling is reminiscent of Bath Abbey.

The base of the tower houses one of the oldest working faceless medieval clocks in the country.

We return to the car to drive back to our cottage in Bradford-on-Avon.