Essex is a beautiful place

We decided to take a walk around Danbury, it was only supposed to be about two and a half miles, but because I didn't pay attention to the instructions in the guide book we ended up here:

Almost a mile from the start of the walk. Still, the tea (one pot = 3 cups) was very welcome, and the location wery pleasant. Brody seemed to enjoy it too, even though he doesn't really like walking on the side of a busy road (A414).

When we finally did get on the walk proper we realised that our guide book is dated 1994, and is a few years out of date.  Some of the things it describes are no longer there. So it took a little while for us to find the path, once on it we were soon in Thrift Wood where there used to be wild boar, and out the other side. Then past the golf course and into some fields.

This is where the beauty of Essex can really be seen.  We appeared to be miles from anywhere, on a lovely summer's day.  Brody can walk freely here, there are no horses or cows to distract him, and no streams for him to get muddy in.  Shortly after that we were back at the starting point:

Once seated in the garden we had a very nice lunch (Fisherman's Ploughmans), and drove home.  Our total walking distance today was about 4.7 miles.