A day in Saffron Walden

The Cross Keys

Late in the afternoon we set off for our impromptu overnight at the Cross Keys in the middle of Saffron Walden.  The journey was uneventful except for the ten-minute delay on the M11 because a van had a delaminated tyre. 

The hotel has no parking, so we are in Swan Meadows car park a little before 6pm.  I bought a ticket to cover the 2 minutes we had to pay for.  This is not me being super honest, it's me being slightly confused by the signage, which is frankly horrible. The hotel was a shop long ago, and has expanded into adjacent buildings by the look of it.  We are in one of three rooms above what looks like an old barn. Access is by a spiral staircase.  The room itself looks old, with the bath in the corner. Still, the bed was comfortable.  

We found the Cross Keys to be a very nice hotel, but a little under parr for an excellent rating.  The USB charging sockets were not working, the chair back was broken.  Our evening meal was lovely, except the crumble was cold.  I ate it before I commented, then it was immediately removed from the bill.  

The woman who was 'front-of-house' seemed to be on her own apart from the kitchen staff. She told us a horror story of a late night encounter with men smoking something they shouldn't. This is why the door to the courtyard is locked, and we have to go via the street - which provides a view of the entire courtyard.  

Breakfast was also lovely, but again, the usual instruction to help yourself to cereal was missing.  

Other things we found missing or inaccurate:

• the car park charges in the confirmation email are out of date
• the Wi-Fi in the welcome book is incorrect 

Saffron Walden

We had come to follow the Essex Walks Saffron Walden Town Walk, which we did.  Saffron Walden is a pretty and historic town.  It also has a good shopping centre.  Both of us managed to find the coats we wanted.

Some of it, though, is not so impressive.

Here is Jo, trying to escape being in the picture of the town maze.

 It is:
The largest publicly owned turf-cut maze in England.  The date of the original cutting is not known. In 1699, 1828, 1841, 1859, 1911 and 1979 maintenance was performed.  It is 35 metres in diameter and 1500 metres long.

Saffron Walden Town Hall

Saffron Walden Library

The town square is impressive, there is also a drinking fountain.

Just in the right-hand side there is part of a group of people who may be councillors, who were discussing the town.  We saw them again in the garden.

We had started our walk before 10am (our checkout time), by now the town was starting to get busier, and it became more difficult to get pictures without random people in them.
 

The building on the corner of Market Hill is currently unused, and is mentioned in the guide book as a good example of the buildings in the town.  I have 5 pictures of this, all with people in them somewhere.  We were not here for perfect photography, so it's time to move on.

St. Mary the Virgin is the longest church in Essex, it occupies an imposing position in the town.  The spire can be seen from many places, and has 12 bells.

St. Mary the Virgin, Saffron Walden

  The stain glass is also breathtaking.

From the Chancel

Onwards, on our route, from the church is the Museum, which we visited on a previous visit, so was skipped today.  Beyond the museum is the castle, it is barely more than a couple of falling-down walls, fenced off so that a good look is impossible.  I hope it can get the treatment the rest of the town benefits from.

Our final visit for the day was Bridge End Garden.  Walking through a narrow alley, between terraced houses, suddenly the path opens up to some magnificent gardens. We didn't get to see the art gallery that we passed in the alley.

The gardens are all formal gardens from various historical periods.  We spoke to two women tidying up the greenhouse and inevitably talked about the dry summer.  The gardens have survived pretty well.  We spent a lot of time looking for the visitor centre, hoping to get a cup of tea and possibly lunch, but it is only an old green house against a wall.  

So, lunch was at the Eight Bells.  A lovely pub with good food.  Then into town for our shopping, which I have already mentioned was successful.  

The journey home will be covered in the next post.