Warley Place

Warley Place is an Essex Wildlife Trust (EWT) 'garden' between Warley and the M25.  We went because the EWT website talked about the bulbs in bloom.   They are spectacular - especially the daffodils.  One of the wardens commented how early they are this year, because we almost skipped winter.

The garden created by Ellen Willmot over a century ago is now in ruins, but some of the trees she planted are still growing or coming near to the end of their lives.

The site is carefully marked out, with plenty of 'keep to the path'  signs.  That ensures the bulbs will grow next year and for years to come.

Here are a few of the pictures I took.   

Crocus

The daffodils cover the hill side.

In the kitchen garden, I haven't identified these yet.

A lily amongst the snow drops, similar to those in our garden that will bloom in a month or so.

Snow drops, daffodils and unidentified lilies

A field with clumps of daffodils

A patch of snowdrops, still surviving, while most are coming to their end for this year.

 

After our walk around the site, where we were in competition for a while with Havering U3A and two wardens, we had lunch at the Thatchers Arms next door.  The pub was full, we only got a table because someone had booked and not turned up.  Those who came in after us were turned away.  The food was good, the staff friendly, but the wait was a bit long.

Tollesbury Wick

Thursday (3 Oct 2024) was forecast to be a nice day.  We decided to go to either Wallasea Island, or Tollesbury Wick.  The latter is a bit closer and won the argument.  We arrived at the end of the road, with Google Maps telling us that the wick was just over the river.  We decided to walk along the England Coastal Path.  Then I spotted a sign that said the road floods, so with the tide coming in first, I moved the car.

Tollesbury is where Fellowship Afloat keep their old light ship.  That's not what we had come to see.  We had come to do some bird watching.  From that perspective, the day was a marked failure.

We saw: 

Pigeons
Gulls

Mallards

A white bird obscured by vegetation and too far away to make an identification - possibly a snowy egret.
Some sort of hawk, too far away even with binoculars to even see a proper profile.

We heard Robins, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Rook, Chaffinch.

As you go further out, there are boats moored, and we caught up with a man who was struggling to walk and keen to get back to his boat before high tide, which was about an hour away.  He told us some of how he ended up on a dilapidated boat, and how bad Southend had become for drug addicts.  It was a sad story, and there was nothing we could do to help.  We wandered on as he crossed the marshes and looked back enough to know he made it to the boat.  The walk was a 'there and back'.  After we turned around, we met a man with too dogs, one a Labrador. It was carrying a large stick, much too long for it really, and regularly swimming. We spoke for a bit, and he said he would rather be sitting outside the Loft drinking coffee.  He shrugged and continued on his way.  We did not venture into the EWT hide, it didn't seem worth it.  I wonder if all the birds prefer the custom build wetlands and have abandoned this area?

We got back on land, at about high tide, the road had not flooded this time, although if the tide was much higher it would, so I count that as a good decision.  We went into the Loft for a light lunch.  The owner (?), saw us come in, but seemed to forget about us and was quite surprised so 10 minutes or more later to see us sitting there.  Still, the Dal soup was good, and we took some rhubarb cake, made with local rhubarb, to sit on a seat to eat and watch the infrequent birds. 

Then we walked along the coastal path on the other side of the road and round past the sewage works (smelly) and back into the village along the road.  Time for an experimental shot or two of the remaining winter food.

I tried to focus on the rose hips closest to me and just to the left of centre, and the branch they were on.  The focus is not great, but better than I have achieved before.

Plotlands and Langdon Hills

"The Haven"

"The Havens" is the last Plotlands house, it is a museum now, and in need of refurbishment.  The Essex Wildlife Trust have plans developing.  I hope they can preserve this important piece of Essex History.  On a day like today, the house is an idyll.  A simple house, with enough land to grow a good portion of your own food, it takes me back to a simpler time (before I was born, but I can imagine it).  This is the first building you see after leaving, the very modern EWT visitor centre.  It makes for quite a contrast, I wonder which of them is really more sustainable?

I found this site, http://www.roselake.co.uk/main/dgowlett.htm, which give some history on another Plotlands house. Much of this history was destroyed when Basildon New Town was build.

We continued up the trail towards Langdon Hills, up and up, with just the occasional down.  You need a certain level of fitness for this walk, the paths are sometimes good, but at other time are rough hardcore that has been partly washed away. The walking here needs care.

Up some more until you can see the QEII bridge through the haze.  

QEII bridge from Langdon Hills

Until, at the top of the walk, where we met a man with an ageing Ridgeback, who pointed us to an alternative path back, avoiding the nettles and brambles.  Before returning, though, a picture or two of the Capital city.  This is the best one.

London, from Langdon Hills

Then, all the way back down.  We followed his advice, then got back on the official route, but the guide book was rather sketchy on where next, especially as the red waymarkers it mentions have long since disappeared.  So for the last part we found our own way, with a little help from 'Map my Walk'.

A stroll around the 'gardens' that have been set up near the visitor centre was followed by a cup of tea. 3.9 miles (6.3 km) covered today.

A walk around Middle Earth

I arrived at church quite early - even for me on a preaching day.  There was more to set up than usual. Slides and video.  Warner was already there.  Before prayer, we combined the video's and presentations onto the one laptop.  That meant only two to switch between.  Christ Church had some electrical work completed during the week to satisfy the requirements of the quinquennial (5 yearly building inspection).  As a result, the heaters had only just started, and it was very cold.  Then we found that the sound system wasn't working.  Happily (especially for me) it was all fixed between 9:50 and 10:00.  My sermon 'script' is here. I used to follow the script very closely, but I do that much less now, so the text is what I planned rather than what I said.  There will be a recording posted on the Christ Church web site soon.  I tried to encourage people to listen to what God had to say to them.  I do not think I succeeded, but we will see if anyone goes to the vocation's day.  They certainly enjoyed the video clip - watch the faces of the crowd and the judges if you follow the link in the sermon.

After lunch, we drove to Warley for the monthly walk. About 50 of us gathered outside Fords.  Although the Sun was bright, the day was cold, so we were all glad to get moving.  People who are not regular members of the church are starting to join us for these walks, which is excellent news.

We soon found ourselves in Middle Earth, somewhere in The Shire judging by the name on the gate.  (If you've never read Lord of the Rings, just ignore me for a bit!)  Our destination was Warley Place an Essex Wildlife Trust site that is only occasionally open to the public.  It was a house with a formal garden, but was sold to the trust who are letting it be reclaimed by wild life.  I spent a good while wandering round and talking to the trust staff.  The snow drops here are the biggest I've ever seen and put on a show to rival the blue bells (due in a couple of months).  I thought I'd better catch the others up, and returned to the entrance for what turned out to be a long wait.  A flask of coffee proved to be much more important than I had thought possible.  That and the walk back over still frozen puddles slowly warmed me up.

A very enjoyable day, the remainder of which was spent half awake in front of the television.  Stress and exercise had taken its toll.