Wabbidashery… aka, The Heritage Heaven Tour
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@Nocturama ha! I’d be very pleased to get to a level where I can skronk out some Madness.
That’s funny, in my family the name “James” comes up a lot. David’s a good solid name, I have no complaints, although It must be like Dr. Seuss’ poem “Too Many Daves” for your family
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I love walking. I’d walk everywhere if I could, so always try to get out every day. Since the kids are off school for the summer I’ve had less opportunity to get out and explore the area on foot, which inevitably affects my mood. They’re not at home today though, so I thought I’d explore a bit more on foot and bring the Wabash for the walk. Let’s go!
It’s a hot day today so I don’t think I’ll last long wearing the jacket…
This bridge serves overground trains from London which go past our house and on to the coast of Leigh-on-Sea. It’s a bit of an eye-sore… I decided to take the left-turn just behind the bridge to see if there’s anything down there. I assumed it’d mostly be a private road and I’d have to turn back, but no signs told me I was trespassing so I cracked on.
Road bollard being used as a dog-shit bin. Why not eh?
Needlessly ostentatious driveway with symmetrical eagles. Again, why not eh?
Maybe a sign that I shouldn’t be here…
And just like that… I stumbled upon a creepy little church. The sign told me it’s the Church of All Saints – hey why just stick to one saint when you can have all of them? The grounds were wonderfully unkempt with graves poking through the long grass. No one around, a really spooky atmosphere, felt like something was crouching in the long grass.
I’ve since looked at the history of the church. The current building dates back to the 1850s (not 1998 as suggested by the doors), while the nave is of Norman construction and estimated to be 900 years old and the tower was constructed in the 1300s. It’s been a site of worship for over 1000 years. In the 1960s, an Iron Age settlement was found nearby, thought to be ~200BC. Cool!
Leaving the church I saw an empty field – LET’S WALK THROUGH IT!
Nothing much to see here…
A 5 minute walk from the eerily quiet church, I was back in the centre of town. Decided to nose around the other church to see if anything interesting to learn about the history of my new area. While I’m not religious at all, I love poking around old churches. Again, the place was deserted and kinda creepy.
Sexy pipework:
Memorials for the dead. Oldest one I saw dates back to the early 1600s, but apparently a church has been here since Norman times.
The final memorial anbove interested me so I did some reading. Apparently the first accurate measurement of the speed of sound was made at this church in 1709 by William Derham – the pastor who was also a natural philosopher & clockmaker. His remains were buried somewhere within the grounds, but his grave was lost to time. He achieved it by use of a telescope, some friends with shotguns placed at other local landmarks visible from the church-tower, and a half-second pendulum. Impressive work Billy!
Lugged myself into daylight and went to look at an old windmill.
Me and the wabash heading home…
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What a lovely update. I love the frontier and I love old things. Don’t much care for what’s between and we don’t have any of the latter here. So things like the church are super cool to me.
Thanks much!
Think it, be it.
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@jerkules Great update. Thanks for posting.
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@mclaincausey thanks man! I forgot to mention which was Wrong by NoMeansNo based on some of your posts on the forum. I love it, drums and bass are so good. Hell of a good album!
And yeah it’s something we take for granted, having this history all around us. Whenever I go to the US it’s startling how new and shiny everything looks.
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@sabergirl ha it was very unexpected, especially it felt like a private road and exactly an obvious place for a communal building.
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It’s become an annual tradition for me and my wife to go to the London Craft Beer Festival with my wife’s aunt and uncle. They’re the best company, we always have a great time. But inevitably we never take many photos cause we’re too busy chatting and drinking.
I took the wabash, but didn’t get too many shots. My favourite beers were both from Vault City - “Staggeringly Stoopid” and a Raspberry S’More sour that I forgot the name of. The former is the blue beer below - undoubtedly a stunt to get people interested, but it was still ridiculously good. Also the amazing pastry stouts at Amundsen were a highlight..
My wife’s uncle (Chris) is an amazing dude who has gotten into IH based on my recommendations! Think he has a couple pairs of jeans, a denim western and few other items. Of course he had to try the wabash on which we all agreed looked great on him
And we walked past the Battle of Cable Street mural, which commemorates when a fascist march through the East End resulted in the fascists getting their arses kicked by regular Londoners. Not to get political, but given the current fascist riots that have been going on in the UK, it’s warming to remember that the UK working classes have rejected racism in the past, and I hope will continue to do so. Fuck racism.
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Sorry for the lack of content from me lately - the days have been busy with work and kids birthdays and the weather’s been warm, so not much opportunity to wear and share the wabash.
This week we’re in Norfolk for a getaway. It was my daughter’s 10th birthday and she’s always wanted to try camping, so we gave that a go for a couple of nights. We found a place that had rides and a petting zoo so - lots of fun for the kids.
Yesterday we rented a boat and explored the Norfolk Broads. It was a beautiful day and one that I’ll remember spending with my family. Lots of wildlife, my favourite was spotting some cormorants hunting for fish. Unfortunately no decent shots of him.
We’re now staying in a converted barn in the north of the county and planning the rest of our trip. Will hopefully get to wear the wabash and share with you the last week of my leg of the tour
