Day 3-4 Saffron Walden and Great Chesterford

Exploring Saffron Walden and Great Chesterford

We went into Saffron Walden today. It's a biggish market town (well, bigger than Maleny, much smaller than Nambour) about 15 minutes drive eastwards from Susan's place. It was a cool (bracing, according to John) day, so Barb dressed warmly for arctic conditions. The countryside is so beautiful. It is lushly green, with daffodils dotted along the verges and fields of yellow rapeseed (canola) between the villages.

Saffron Walden is clustered around a market square, and some of the street architure is old and beautiful.  Our mission today was to source UK sim cards for our phones and for John to activate his new UK bank card and withdraw some UK money. Both these tasks were achieved with mininum fuss. 

Susan and John in the Market Square

Next order of business was a visit to WH Smith the stationers to find the lead propelling pencils that we favour for doing our morning sudoku and cryptic crosswords. Yes we are that sad! To be fair we haven't been able to source them in Australia, so we always stock up on a visit to the UK. Stocks at home were running very low and the situation critical. We found what we were after and bought several packets to tide us over. Crisis averted.

John outside WH Smith the stationers

These pencils are the BEST!

Susan and Barb then went off to the butchers to get some venison for a casserole and some sensational looking sausages, while John went off in search of new batteries for his wristwatch which had decided to die on the trip over.

This water fountain in the square looks very ancient.

Tudor style building still used as a shop and IS very ancient!

Home for lunch at Susan's place and a siesta for John and Susan. Afterwards John and Barb went for a walk into Great Chesterford for a look around. It's a rather pretty village with lots of lovely gardens and architecture.  And really, really cold. And windy. Brrr!

Barb with the town sign.

Take note - it's mid-spring and not a leaf on the trees.  Did we say it's cold?

Daffodils in the park.

An idyllic scene.

Idyllic, except even John is cold.  He remembers a time, long ago, when trees had leaves.  That's so passé.

The River Cam

It's thirsty work walking and exploring. It was also very cold out in the wind. Barb spied a pub that offered open fires and traditional ales and we were sucked into its portal. John ordered a pint of London Pride Bitter and Barb chanced a shandy (although not usually a beer drinker). It was surprisingly drinkable and the pub atmosphere was warm and inviting.

Barb magnetically drawn to the English pub

John ordering up his beer.

Aaaah! That hits the spot!

The Village school. Lots of Ukraine flags and
fundraisersfor the fleeing refugees in evidence

Susan's back garden got some attention from the gardeners today

After dinner, we settled in to watch TV for the evening. Barb's got a lot of Coronation Street to catch up on! There's lots of new characters since three years ago, but some of the old familiar faces were there too.

Susan's very comfy lounge