Sunday 2nd June

One of the reasons we ended up at Colchester was because Chris had suggested Constable Country as our venue this year, and Colchester is the nearest town.

So it was only right that we should visit the location of Constable's most famous painting - Flatford Mill. And this was today's chosen destination.

Having arrived at the main car park and unloaded his mobility scooter, Brian discovered that there was a disabled car park further along the road. So for some reason, he drove the car there, leaving Joanie to drive the scooter, which she quite enjoyed.

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Joanie (Jim) Clarke waves to the crowds as she drives between car parks.

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Part of the RSPB nature area.

Having assembled near the disabled car park, our first point of call was a garden that had been run by the RSPB with the objective of providing the best environment for birds.

Chris, our ornithological expert, managed to keep his reputation in tact by correctly idenifying an Albatross - a rare sight in these parts!!

After our bit of birding, we went to queue at the National Trust cafe for our morning coffee.

The girls were then interested in a craft exhibition which was in one of the buildings. Plus there was a Constable exhibiton to see and of course Willy Lott's cottage a feature on the Hay Wain painting.


We gradually re-assembled at the eating area where we bought items from a National Trust BBQ for our lunch.

Taking a quick walk along the canal past Flatford Lock, we saw Flatford Mill from another direction.

Having exhausted the entertainment at Flatford we decided to move onto Dedham to see what happened there.

It was here that we got split up as there were lots of people. Some people seemed to think an ambiguous text saying we had parked in Dedham was to blame, causing them to walk towards the centre of the village rathed than towards the river.

We did however manage to meet up in the village, from where some decided to call it a day, whilst others went in search of afternoon tea.

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The Albatross correctly identified by Chris.

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Rowing boats on the River Stour.
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The back of Flatford Mill.

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Flatford Lock.
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The Blue Cottage.

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The front of Flatford Mill.
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Willy Lott's Cottage.

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Pete and Brian wos here!

For dinner this evening, we had booked into the Yew Tree Inn at Great Horkesley. This was a Greene King Chef and Brewer pub and they had asked us to provide our menu choices in advance. This had proved quite problematic as not many of the Dungroamin clientele are up to such a task, but after a few false starts, the required meal list had been provided. What could go wrong?

Those of us hoping for a pint of Abbot were disappointed, as all they had in cask ales was something referred to as "house bitter".

Due to a minor administration technicality on the part of Dungroamin Management, Barbara mistakenly started to eat Jerry's garlic mushrooms, leaving him without a starter. Oops!!

However the rest of the meal went without significant incident.

Brian and Pete, hoping for a few more drinks once we got back to the Balkerne Gate, were disappointed to find that they stopped serving at 9:00pm!