Only day three and my travels have brought me home already.
Yes, I have to confess that I am an Essex Girl - although I'm always quick to add that Colchester is very close to the Suffolk border!
Not surprisingly, I feel quite at home in Colchester! The town centre isn't too bad (probably the same quota of boarded up shops as anywhere else at the moment), it's only a half hour's drive from the seaside, less than an hour from London by train, ten minutes from beautiful 'Constable Country' countryside and we get some of the best weather in the UK.
Being 'Britain's oldest recorded town', we also have Roman remains, a Norman castle, Norman churches and masses of interesting and well-preserved Medieval, Tudor, Regency and Victorian buildings. I took some of the children from school on a walk into town recently and even I was amazed at the buildings we discovered that I'd simply walked past before. This summer I'm planning on going on the guided 'ghost walk'. Who knows, it might just offer up some inspiration for a story... Here are some of my favourite buildings and remains!
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| Colchester Castle - completed around 1100 |
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| The remains of St Botolph's Abbey - Augustinian - founded around 1100 |
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| The Roman Gateway - The Balkerne Gate (and next to it The Hole in the Wall - the only pub left in town that hasn't turned into some sort of night-club!) |
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| Medieval cottages on the River Colne, which runs through the town |
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| The Rose and Crown Hotel, a 13th century coaching inn |
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| Hollytrees House - now a museum - which is in the Castle Park (so named because that is also where you'll find the castle!) |
Thanks for stopping by! Come and visit me sometime - I'd love to take you around Colchester!
13 comments:
What a wonderful location :) you really choose places where I have been, looking forward for D :)
Dear Linda,
Thank you for visiting my blog post for A. You are First Commenter on that post and get an extra link.
I enjoyed reading about Colchester. Lovely photos. Makes me want to visit sometime as a tourist.
Slowly, I am making aquaintances living in the UK through blogging and my Etsy shop. It would be fun to visit different areas and meet some of the people that I have 'met' on the internet.
I hope you write your novel. I would also like to write a novel. I have been participating in two different writing challenges for short fiction: Romantic Friday Writers (usually 400 word flash fiction with a romantic angle) and Saturday Centus (100 words to a prompt).
There are more writing challenges than that on the internet, such as NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) which I have tried and failed twice. November is not my best time of year for creativity of any kind!
Nice to meet you!
Best wishes,
Anna
For the benefit of other readers:
Anna's A-Z, the letter B
Nice post and your town looks lovely.
This is a beautiful place, and I love to keep coming back to see what you will share with us next. You have been added to my followings :-)
Thank you!
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Wow, Britain's oldest town? History must be oozing out its pores. ;) Good luck on the challenge!
I've never been to Colchester but it looks lovely.
I once went on a bus tour of my home town, I learnt so much! I was about 20 at the time, too.
I JUST got back from London not even a week ago! I've yet to venture out into the surrounding towns, but Colchester sounds like a great destination. How utterly cool to live somewhere with so much history. I'll bet you will learn something on that ghost walk that you didn't know before.
How gorgeous, thanks for posting about it! My husband and I are musing an "everything but London" trip this summer, I'll be sure and put it on the list!
Aurora Celeste
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Our first trip to England meant a trip to Colchester as the guidebook had really given the town a huge write-up. Nothing disappointed. I remember those arches. I'm really sorry about how your pub system has changed. I read where some London pubs serve wine and sushi now. That's all well and good, but, oh, the memories . . . .
My Mummy was born in Colchester :-)
Those are some gorgeous views.
--Damyanti, Co-host A to Z Challenge April 2012
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I emigrated from Manningtree, and my girls live in Colchester. I will be there for a few days in September. I was born in Harwich, so hello from another Essex girl! :D
Oh, and my daughter had her wedding reception in the castle. Wonderful day!
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