Everybody Loved the Epping Forest Tour
Did you miss the Epping Forest Tour? Everybody said how much they enjoyed it, and quite a few people since have said they wished they had come!
The trip was designed as an Autumn Colours Tour, the idea being to time it to take advantage of a heavily wooded area when the leaves are at their golden best.
We always make a stop in the morning, where passengers can buy coffee, tea, cakes etc. This is always somewhere other than a Motorway Services, where there is something interesting to see. This has included at various times garden centres, museums, farms and even cathedrals.
This time, we stopped at a place we had used a number of times before – Blake House Craft Centre at Blake End near Braintree.
The first of the three main stops was Chipping Ongar, where most people had a look at the church and the castle mound that was hidden amongst the trees.
Then for many people the next short stop was the highlight. St. Andrew’s Church at Greenstead-juxta-Ongar is one of the many outstanding ancient churches of Essex. It is the only surviving wooden Saxon church, and is where the body of St. Edmund rested on its way to Bury St. Edmunds for burial.
Next we stopped at Epping, another nice town. It was here that Anne and I had a meal at Sweet Inspirations in the main street. It looks like an expensive chocolates shop where you might get a cup of coffee. In fact we had a very nice, inexpensive meal in attractive surroundings with excellent service.
The last of the main stops was Waltham Abbey. Here, most of the passengers looked around the Abbey itself, with its imposing Norman architecture and fascinating doom painting.
The unannounced extra was Waltham Cross, where I was able to show everybody one of the three surviving Eleanor Crosses. I have taken people to see the others on previous trips, at Geddington and Hardingstone, both in Northamptonshire.
Next year’s Autumn Colours Tour is around the New Forest, visiting Lyndhurst, Lymington and Christchurch, on Wednesday 25th October. You can book as soon as you like.
Posted by colin on Sunday 13th November, 2005 at 11:06am