Staying Put in Sawbridgeworth

Unusually for us, we did not move the boat at all today.

Great St Mary Church

First, this morning we went to the the church of Great St Mary in Sawbridgeworth. We managed to find a footpath through the houses which was much quicker than Mike's attempt to check out where it was last night after dinner!

There were around 60 in the congregation, including a small robed choir and assorted servers. The vicar, Frances Arnold, celebrated the communion whilst a Reader preached. Although it was billed as a Family Service with the talk especially aimed at children and young people, it was generally not particularly child-oriented. Overall, it seemed that they were trying to do all the things that a traditional big town church would aspire to doing but on a smaller scale. They are clearly very keen on their heritage and the building. However, we were made very welcome and, afterwards, one person spent some time pointing out some of the interesting features.

It is claimed that they have the finest collection of wall memorials in the county and there are several - mainly 17C - which are very ornate. One has the typical depiction not only of the couple but also their 14 children.

Another was a senior judge - and looked the part whilst a further image showed someone who obviously felt very confident in himself!

Church House

The Church House, a useful meeting room alongside the church, we originally given in the 17C and coffee was served here after the service.

Alms Houses

There are also three (originally four) almshouse still used for that purpose, although they have just had central heating and double glazing installed!

We were expecting Alice to arrive from Windsor later today - probably between 5 and 6 - so we needed to be somewhere easy to meet up with Joanna and car. The only spot we knew about further on was some distance and so we ended up staying put.

After lunch, Mike walked down to Sheering Mill Lock to see if there was any possibility of a mooring there (we had not noticed anything on the way up) but he concluded that it was not useful.

However, the walk gave him a chance to take a closer look at the converted Maltings from the other side. As well as those that front onto the navigation, there is an extensive line of buildings behind.

Between the Maltings and Sheering Mill is a modern housing development. We mentioned a few days ago about developers making the waterfront look as if it was a mooring and then putting up signs to prevent just that from happening. This is one of them!

In addition, the entrance makes it very clear that this development does not welcome too many casual visitors! (So private that the photos Mike took all came out blank!)

0 miles - 0 locks