Day #21 Maldon to Colchester Essex.

Attractive thatched cottage.

        Emerged 7.30am from my over night digs with a load of "full English breakfast" on board. Keen to load up the calories as today was cold, with a fair wind out of the east. The babbling brooks alongside the roads all had a light coating of ice. The season is noticeably later than on the south coast last week and the spring lambs must all still be sequestered in their sheds. Most horses that I have seen are covered with winter coats for their nights in the paddocks. Good walking today on  relatively direct, B denominated highways, that importantly keep me away from the high speed traffic carried on the A type routes. Was able to tarry a while with John who was cleaning the windows of a road-side country pub. John introduced me to his landlord, who when he understood the motive and details of my walk, treated me a pint of his best, 'on the house'. Thanks to all at the Angel Inn.
         Reached Colchester at 1.30pm. Another Roman city. The suffix in the name, ie: "chester" indicates its origins as being a Roman military city. Colchester, where the Roman wall is still apparent throughout the city, is the oldest constituted city in England.
        Note the very great absence of 100% new building construction as I pass the towns and villages. Don't really under stand the nuances of the economics of construction in the UK, but they do seem to prefer to (partially) gut and renovate, as opposed to the total re-building, up to 2010 standards mostly preferred in North America. One sees many building here that have obviously had multiple additions to them, by different owners, over the decades. To my mind the end product frequently looks dis-jointed.
         Tomorrow I continue my swing to the east, hopefully reaching Ipswich, so as to regain the coast-line which I had lost due to the need to pass the Thames estuary.

27 .3 Kms. walked today per pedometer. Cumulative Kms. covered: 521.2
Hours of walking today including rest stops: 6.0
Type of accommodation: Pescara Guest House
Cost of bed & breakfast: pounds. 40.00

Please go to Flickr.com (traveller6666) to view pics of the walk.
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