Greensted Church and Chipping Ongar

Greensted Church with the
sun behind the tower.

On Thursday, 8 October, we visited Greensted Church.  The only remaining church where the walls are made of split logs.  It is a good mix of the old and the new, as there is a new looking roof on part of the church.  The pictures on their website are, of course, better that the ones I took.  So for the classic pictures follow the link.  Here you will find my quirky idea of what makes a good picture.   

A picture inside the church
tells its story

It is a beautifully peaceful place.  The stain glass windows are worth a visit too, the church is carpeted, so there is next to no noise as we walk up and down the aisle.  The pews are protected by doors, but they are below waist height, so I'm not sure if they count as box pews. 

Outside there is an enormous yew tree, As you can see I tried to get a picture of a berry.

We spoke to a cyclist, who was enjoying the grounds, and bemoaned the state of the roads, but also talked about the beauty of the site.  

We left, thinking we might come back when the sun had moved to get a different view, but that didn't happen.

Then on to Chipping Ongar.  We parked in the Council car park next to the supermarket.  There they have a small bank of InstaVolt chargers. They appear to work like the tube - tap in -- tap out. I followed the instructions carefully, and after an agonising wait while the car and charger had a chat, charging started at 21kW.  Three times faster than at home.  We walked away, and left the car on charge.  A first for us.  

Almost next to the car park is a café.  Nerissa and Claire's Coffee bar and Restaurant.  We decide to try it, it is a basis café, with a relatively short menu.  The cheese and onion quiche was very good, but Jo's was not as hot as it should have been, still we are both here to tell the tale.

Charging finished part way through lunch.  I tried to tap out, but the card was continually refused.  Then the screen offered a receipt, so I took a picture for later use, then it finally said 'Complete'. Turns out that in the bright sun shine the picture was blurry, but one thing I do remember was the time on the screen as 19:00. The charge was £7.85, the kWh looks like 8.33, which is approximately £0.94/kWh.  At 4.3 miles/kWh that is about £0.22/mile.  At home, I pay 25.13p / kWh, which gives a cost of approx £0.06/mile. That make the charge almost 4 times the home cost.

When in Ongar ALWAYS visit the CheeseMonger.  We have Colston Basset Stilton, Wensleydale Cranberry Orange and Chocolate, and Vintage Cheddar Gorge.  Also, a cheese dip, and a pre-packed brie.  

Following that we walked down the High Street and along a footpath next to Cripsey brook.  Then back up the hill, and across the road to visit St. Martins, and home via the A414.