Wednesday 24 May 2006

The mystery trip!

                                                                                       I joined the ladies and gentlemen, last Wednesday, when we all set off on our mystery trip, I sat on the back seat with my friends Shirley and May, Our tour guide for the day was Ernie, who introduced us to Gary, who we were instructed not to call driver! We went through a few villages, and then turned of, and through to St Ives in Cambridgeshire, Of course we were all speculating about where we were going! ” I think we’re gooing to Duxford said Shirley!” We don’t wanna goo there, that’s for Blokes”… Over on your left is a village called Trumpington and in the church, there is the biggest collection of brasses in the country, Ernie pointed out the church tower at Duxford also way over in the distance, on we went past the Duxford turn off….phew! Then May announced,” bet we are gooin to Ely Caffedrul ! “Now I thought, oh great I would enjoy that, the only thing is, after the meeting where we had played Bingo and I had a little moan to you all, and told you I was to go on the mystery trip, Barry Oddbodkins had teased me in a comment saying we were to go to a mammoth Bingo session in darkest Ely!!! He’s going to have a field day with this I thought!…...But no! On we went down the A1 towards Cambridge and this was when the tour began, with Ernie pointing out Girton College tower way over to your left, originally built for Ladies… we turned of the A1,On to Saffron Waldon and our attention was drawn to over there on the right are the laboratories ,called Genome campus where DNA was discovered…on we went now through many charming old country villages, with Ernie pointing out the church spires, which were square ,with a smaller spire  at the top ,these are called Hereford towers ,and we saw a number of them .we went on, to see very old original houses, Ernie informed us there was very little clay or stone in the area ,so the houses were made of wood and a wattle and daub, and often the upper story over hung the lower. They were delightful many of which were pargeted (painted) we went through Great Chesterford an old Roman village, with some timber houses, one dating back to 1692…..Then on through to little Chesterford, where the oldest house there is said to date back to 1190!....We went past a pub called ‘The Cricketers’, which is run by the parents of Jamie Oliver (a celebrity TV chef) of course by now we were in Essex, on we went through the Deevon valley ,on to Debden, where is Dick Turpins cottage, and Gustolf Holst once lived and from where he wrote the planet suite, and so on to Finchingfield where we stopped of for an hour to eat a lovely cream tea, On our return home we went through many more picturesque villages including Steeple Bumstead birthplace of Nurse Edith Cavel ,(there is a hospital named after her in Peterborough),On to Haverhill where there is an old Roman road going to Colchester …we went through Newmarket and saw Tattershalls the big sale/auction place ,where many famous racing horses are bought and sold. Onto Exning, that was the main town until they had the Black Death and moved, to …Newmarket hence the name. On and on through many Fenland villages, and the some how beautiful, vast and often erry Fens, Coming to Erith where there was once a Vicar the Rev Sayers…he had a daughter Dorothy, and it was from here the book’ The Nine Tailors’ was written by Dorothy M Sayers!......During the rainiest period imaginable here, we were lucky to have brilliant sunshine all afternoon which all added to our enjoyment of a lovely afternoon…..there was so much more I could have shared with you but by now I’m sure I have gone over my limit and will get a wireless alert for sure ,I hope you enjoyed the account of our day out as much as we did ….with love from 

   With Thanks to Donna for my signiture and lovely graphic today         

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a good time was had by all :-)

Anonymous said...

You were wrong, you didn't even get a wireless alert for this! As you're the featured Siver Surfer I think you have good reason to complain loudly, how are we meant to read if we don't know you've posted. I'm glad your difficulties were resolved this morning so you could get online and post this lovely entry. It looks so pretty there and you seem to have learnt a lot about all the famous people who lived around the area. May your arrows beam green for a long time to come!! Jeannette xx

Anonymous said...

Jan that certainly was a delightful trip on your mystery tour ,you explained it so well I felt I had come with you ,so many interesting facts.Enjoy the rest of the week .See you on here when we get back......Love You........Jeanxx

Anonymous said...

I've been in The Cricketers!!! It's right near where we go fishing :-) A lovely account of your day ~ Finchingfield is certainly a picturesque village ~ and no bingo lol
lotsa love Debbie ~xxxx~
http://journals.aol.com/debbiewebb4465/TheLifeTimesofanEssexGirl

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed your day and all the beautiful pictures... thanks so much for sharing them. Sandra

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing the pictures, Jan, they are lovely
~~Kath~~

Anonymous said...

Sounds as if it was a fun trip. Thanks for sharing it with us. Your pictures of the village were very good. A very pretty village. Helen

Anonymous said...

What a great entry, I could almost do the journey myself with that description. Isn't Finchingfield pretty though?
I'm scared to go back as I upset one of the locals on my last visit. I was walking round the church grounds and spotted some lovely cottages beyond the headstones. I took a picture or two before I noticed this angry looking woman shoo-ing me away from her windows. I Think she must have thought I was a peepling tom, lol. But how many of them would have their mum with them do you think?  Love them pics too.
Pity you missed out on the bingo, maybe next time.  ;O)
B. x

Anonymous said...

Jan what a lovely mystery trip you went on the photographs are really great ~ I almost felt I was sitting next to you on the coach ~ and you told us so much about the history of places you visited thanks for sharing that day with us ~ Ally

Anonymous said...

Jan what a lovely mystery trip you went on the photographs are really great ~ I almost felt I was sitting next to you on the coach ~ and you told us so much about the history of places you visited thanks for sharing that day with us ~ Ally

Anonymous said...

hi Jan...

So glad you enjoyed yourself on your mystery tour, I certainly enjoyed reading about it...Lovely pictures too!  lovely entry...

Astra!
http://journals.aol.co.uk/astra1547/astrasjournal

Anonymous said...

Hi Jan,  That was so interesting, I wish I`d been there to see the lovely picturesque places that you visited.  And the names too, Trumpington and Steeple Bumstead...they sound wonderful and so British. :o)

Sandra xxxxx

Anonymous said...

Oh, the day sounds wonderful!  The ride and scenery would have been worth the trip!        Kathy

Anonymous said...

Wow, I felt like I was IN a book. lol  So interesting.  Would love to see all of it!  Hugs and GBU, Shelly

Anonymous said...

Loved your pictures.  What a wonderful trip.  You certainly can weave the most wonderful tales.  HUGS  Chris

Anonymous said...

I ALWAYS THINK YOU LEARN SO MUCH WHEN YOU ARE ON A BUS TOUR WITH A GUIDE SOUNDS AS IF YOU HAD A LOVELY DAY. LOVE JOAN.

Anonymous said...

Lovely photos Jan, some really beautiful scenery.  Sounds like you all had a great time....glad the weather behaved for you!!

Anonymous said...

Joan, great desciption of your day out, would love to find out more about the Sayers, have a friend who is doing a one name study of them

Anonymous said...

Brill entry and your mystery trip sounds lovely :o)  Caff xxxxx

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you had a great time and love the pics :-)

Anonymous said...

i have enjoyed reading this jan.