Lower Wyburns Farm, Rayleigh, Essex

Today was to be all about Chelmsford, a city with a population of just over 160,000 on the A12, which we have passed through, or more accurately skirted around on the bypass, every time we have travelled from our base in Suffolk to London. It is situated, very approximately, halfway between Colchester and London, and because of this has been an important way station for nearly a couple of thousand years. It is also lies a very short distance directly north of Rayleigh via a dual carriageway across beautiful gently rolling rural countryside, this morning a road bloody and littered with several road killed badgers.

Chris worked in the city over forty years ago, when he and his first wife were living briefly in Colchester. He painted the exterior of three multi-story apartment blocks in the middle of winter, and as a result had few fond memories of the place, but today he was to see the city with fresh eyes and come away with a better opinion.

We found our way into the centre and parked in a multi-story carpark, then descended to the market area, popping into the library to pick up a local map, albeit one designed for cyclists. We wandered through the market, a permanent affair where there are cobblers, butchers, cheese sellers, haberdashery stalls, booksellers, hardware stalls …. you name it, it was there. 

From there we found our way through to the Cathedral, a hop, step and jump from the High Street, and were very impressed with this, the second smallest cathedral in all of Britain. It became a cathedral in 1914, not because it dominates the city, but for the fact it is the seat of the Bishop of Chelmsford, a then newly created diocese. The church would appear to be as old as post Roman Chelmsford.  It was rebuilt in the 15^th and early 16^th centuries, with walls of flint rubble, stone and brick. The ceilings are just fabulous and there are heaps of other features to delight the tourist. We were greeted by a steward, a retired city worker, now a retired committed Christian just falling over himself to show his wonderful place of worship off. He succeeded well, and we were pleased we had called by.

We continued on through the High Street, pedestrianized in the same manner as Southend’s and with an excellent Oxfam bookshop which we managed to extract ourselves from with the purchase of only one book. We wandered on across the River Can, upriver from its confluence with the River Chelmer, and admired some of the very old buildings still standing between more modern structures.

Lunch was taken on the lawn of Oaklands Park beneath lovely old trees and beside the Chelmsford Museum which has been housed in the Victorian Italianate villa for several decades.  The Museum consists of the Essex Regimental Museum and the well told story of Chelmsford and the events, people and industry that made it what it is today. These include the story of Marconi who moved here after he was dismissed by his native Italy as a try-hard, Compton of light bulb and electronic fame, Hoffman of ball bearings and several other genius manufacturers and innovators.  Again we were so very pleased that we had called.

From here we headed off toward Little Baddow Lock, somehow missing it. We did find the River Chelmer south of the A12 on its way to the coast, parked beside a bridge and set off downstream along the towpath toward Paper Mill Lock. This is the halfway point in the journey along the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation from Chelmsford to the coast. The navigation has twelve locks and six bridges, all dating from the 1790s. It was completed in 1797 and enabled goods, mostly coal, bricks and timber, to be carried by barge instead of horse drawn wagons from the sea to Chelmsford.

We walked on down between the river and farmland, nettles, hawthorne and oak, surrounded by birdlife; ducks, coots, swans, robins, swallows and a multitude of others. The pathway is popular for walkers of all ages, with or without dogs, many of whom pause or complete their exercise at the tearoom at Paper Mill Lock. Adjacent to the watering hole were dozens and dozens  of watercraft, narrow-boats outnumbered by small motor launches, and many of these for sale, something that caused a gleam in Chris’s eyes. After an hour walking downstream, pausing often to photograph the charming scene or simply to appreciate the surroundings, we turned and walked back, the journey taking a somewhat shorter time.

We headed back to Rayleigh, detouring to the Sainsbury superstore at the Rayleigh Weir interchange to refuel and stock up on a few fresh provisions. We scored a couple of marked down pizzas and cooked them for dinner, but without proper trays, and the gas oven having a mind of its own, it was just as well we had canned beetroot to soften the baked crusts.