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We wanted to continue our new walking regime last weekend, and as it was dry and bright for at least part of the day, we decided to drive out to Paper Mill Lock just north of Chelmsford. Apparently there’s a good walking route through the fields and by the Chelmsford and Blackwater Navigation Canal, which you can also follow all the 14 miles from Chelmsford to Heybridge. Admittedly, it was quite late (around 2pm) when we set off, but we weren’t aiming to trek the 5.5-mile distance we did a couple of weeks ago.

When we got to the lock itself, the steady stream of people strolling at the side of the road said it all; their boots were caked in mud. We hadn’t taken our dirty walking shoes, rather foolishly thinking that as the day dawned very frosty, there would be no mud and soggy ground. It was a silly mistake to make; everyone knows that walking + fields and tracks = mud (even on a fine day). So, we went and grabbed a coffee and cake in Sainsbury’s excellent value for money café, before driving the short distance home.

It was probably just as well. After a sore throat one day last week, I’m now in the midst of what I think is a full-blown cold. A runny nose has since developed after the weekend’s mild aches and although that seems to have gotten much better, the dry, cracked and slightly bleeding lips which have been caused through all the blowing, are I think, a worse thing to bear.

All very unpleasant, but, not wanting to speak too soon, I think I may have now turned the corner. The nose blowing has become much less frequent and I do feel a little brighter. Contracting a cold was inevitable in any case; with most of our families and work colleagues going through the sniffles at Christmas and the past month, it was only a matter of time before I picked something up. And, maybe winter isn’t properly winter without a cold after all.

At last! Blue skies heralded our first walk of 2010. We decided to take a 5.5 mile route closeby, just around Ingatestone. A small town south of Chelmsford, it sits within an area of green belt land, 20 miles north of London. It has some history; established in Saxon times on the then Great Essex Road (now major the A12 trunk road), it sits between the then goliath Roman towns of London and Colchester. The name originally meant ‘settlement at the stone’. It even has stones left by glacial action visible in the High Street.

Nik used to live and spent some of his formative years in the town (in two locations) and so knows the area well. I don’t have that much knowledge of Essex and perhaps the thing I knew Ingatestone for the most is that it’s the last stop before home on the train from London. And that it has good curry house. Our walk from the Walks Into History: Essex changed all that and to be honest, if it hadn’t, at least we managed to get out for a couple of hours, in the (all too limited) winter sunshine.

Our stroll took us around Ingatestone and also Fryerning, a village to the north of the small town. We tramped across empty fields, many deserted pastures with electric fences, over and under the A12 and round the back of the 16th century Ingatestone Hall. Open to the public at selected times and dates, the grand and majestic Tudor mansion that was once host to Queen Elizabeth I is probably most well-known for providing the exterior of Bleak House in the 2005 BBC adaption of the Charles Dickens’ novel of the same name.

After the prolonged cold snap that prevented almost everyone from going almost anywhere, it really felt good to be out and about in the sunshine again, after far too long. Mud (in the car park opposite The Cricketers pub and en route) notwithstanding, we really enjoyed tramping through the grass and hedgerows again, even sighting some deer common to the area. One thing that we had forgotten and was probably telling of the afternoon’s activities, was the aching of our legs. Maybe the moderately high mile count was to blame, maybe it was the lack of activity over the past few weeks. Whatever, it won’t stop us next time.

I didn’t think we’d ever get there. The main courses are cooked and in the freezer, the chickens have been cleaned, the cards have been hung up and the presents have (almost) all been wrapped. With tomorrow being Christmas Eve, we’ve not stopped since we finished work last Thursday night and have had barely a minute to ourselves (which I know is usual for this time of year, but this Christmas seems to have been extra busy).

I’ve found that frustrating and like the snow on the ground here in Essex, the Christmas preparations have seemingly gone on too long this year. It’ll be worth it in three days’ time, though, as we can spend more time with the family rather than in the kitchen, but it has meant that we’ve less time to catch up with end of year jobs and have some time to spend on our personal projects, but there’s always next week. Hopefully my prickly sore throat and tickly cough which appeared today will have gone by then.

If we didn’t have this week off work, I don’t know what we’d have done. It all seems to have started to slow down a bit today, though. After popping into town for a few more bits, hitting (a pleasantly quiet) ASDA for a handful of wrapping paper to finish Nik’s presents and collecting the car with its new MoT, the remaining list of jobs can be counted in one hand. Which of course means that tomorrow, we can have some fun ourselves before the proper, real (and welcome) chaotic family festive fun begins.