The Saffron Trail- Battlesbridge to Danbury

I am ashamed to say that the last stretch of the Saffron trail that CBC and I walked was back in July 2016.

This is a walk which extends from Southend-on-Sea to Saffron Walden in Essex and is roughly about 71 miles.  We have previously walked three sections of it (We also walked back in May 2016 and April 2016). Somehow life has got in the way of our completing it.  

Luckily, CBC had the bright idea of resurrecting it 2 weeks ago.   WKWTTG, CBC's Brother, made the journey from London on the train to come and meet us.

The walk begins in Battlesbridge which is known for its extensive Antique centre.  I've been there once.  There are some very quaint looking buildings around there so it is a nice place to visit.

Here we are. Alas, I didn't realise how cold it was so I didn't bring a hat so CBC gave me his and I discovered I had stuffed the little scarf that Lisa sent me in the bag.

 We parked by the main antiques building.  These are some very attractive buildings nearby.  The walk took us behind aa  garden centre and across a ploughed field.

 What wasn't so nice was the dash across an extremely busy A road after the ploughed field. CBC and brother were ahead of me and handily had a lull in the traffic but I had to wait a little while.

Amusingly, we found ourselves in a 'pick your own pumpkin patch'.  Security was surprisingly good as two members of staff came over to check we were ok and knew where we were going- read that as, "Don't pinch our pumpkins!"

 After that, we lost most trace of civilization and human interaction! I love it when walks get like that.

 It was cold but the sun shone intermittently and made me heartily glad we had commenced this endeavour.

 A typical Autumnal scene created us when we had to cross ontp the road for a short while.

 Onto another field, alongside some sort of brassicas- I do so love walking alongside crops.

 The contrast in colours is greatly pleasing to me- I stared around me in rapt enjoyment as we advanced.

 The sight of Borage flanking the fields pleased me and the bees who buzzed around. 

 Eventually, the Public footpath brought us alongside someone's house.  We sat on a bench in the field and ate some snacks.  CBC had thoughtfully brought coffee for him and his brother. I do not like coffee. They had also stopped to buy cake from a cafe in Battlesbridge. Unfortunately, if you ever read the blog posts on my cake dislikes, you will know I am extremely fussy about cake, and did not like the three flavours they had purchased- in fact I think they bought 4 slices!! Le Sigh...

 Up in the sky, we sighted this glider which was lazily wending its way across the sky.

 At some point soon, we entered into a little footpath by some houses which had a wooded area with graves in it.  It was most curious.

 Making our way across a field, we glimpsed a beautiful fleeting rainbow. That excitement of seeing one never seems to go away, does it? I'm glad it doesn't. It'll be a sad day when I fail to be excited by something like that.

 We came towards East Hanningfield and found we had taken a wrong turning so had to make our way around the Reservoir. It was a pleasant sight though.

 I could scarcely believe that as I texted my friend A to say that we were walking from Battlesbridge to Danbury (she lives in Danbury), it turned out that she was about 100 metres away from me in the community hall in East Hanningfield at an Art Exhibition. We met up briefly to say hi.

 As we left the village, we saw a cottage with a few interesting sights.  These statues...

 And, just sitting there, by the path, a de Havilland Vampire TP1  which is a 1950's trainer version of a Vampire Fighter used to teach student pilots how to fly fighter aircraft.

 And then randomly, this large body of  water with a pagoda.

 Which had a sofa and fridge inside...

 The path continued and CBC and WKWTTG carried on ahead whilst I trailed behind.  I spied some curious fungi

 which reminded me of that dried apple you can buy in Holland Barretts.

As we neared Danbury, we passed through the Ford where typically, we encountered several vehicles.

Our penultimate stop was in the Danbury Parish church graveyard where I took a picture for TARDIS Tuesday.

We finished our journey in the Griffin pub, enjoying a delicious roast dinner- the boys had Nut Roast and I had Chicken.

We ordered a taxi back to the car in Battlesbridge as it was now dark and I was shocked how long it took.  The distance we walked was about 9.7miles but by road seemed much further.

It was a great way to spend our final freedom of Half Term and made us yearn to conquer the whole of the Saffron Trail. I hope I can bring you more installments soon, despite the imminent Winter!

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