Barkway

When I picked Barkway as a destination for my mini-break (or whatever you like to call it) I was merely looking for somewhere convenient for my proposed trips to RHS Hyde Hall and Anglesey Abbey, so it was quite by accident that I stumbled on such a lovely spot. 

Once Barkway sat on the main road between London and Cambridge, and many of the houses which line the high street were once coaching inns.

Now the road goes elsewhere and (outside of commuting hours when people seem to be busy needing to be elsewhere) it's a quiet place, surrounded by open countryside and a network of footpaths obligingly leading through it.

There's a village pond and ac hurch, and on a side road by the latter is another reminder of Barkway's coaching past - a pond constructed for the washing of wagons. Soaking in water also caused the wooden wheels to swell and fit more tightly in their metal rims. 

But the open fields and wide blue skies were calling. We headed up a road opposite the AirBnB, which led to a path, up a rise towards Periwinkle Hill; a peaceful spot, though once site to neighbours' dispute which seems to have turned into a nasty fight.

Up here you can see for miles - in fact with binoculars you should be able to see Ely Cathedral rising out of the Fens about thirty miles away. We didn't see Ely, but walked over to the next village of  Reed, crossing the Greenwich Meridian Line on the way there and back.

This is my sort of walking country; good paths most of the way, good signposting, no narrow stiles to push through, an occasional bench, and an excellent view - and a glorious spring day with snowdrops and violets flowering in the hedges.

I wish we'd been staying longer, but it's not far from home and I hope to be back.

A 'Home Counties' mini-break

Barkway

 I'm just back from a few days in Hertfordshire, which may not seem like an obvious place for a holiday but I wanted to visit the RHS garden at Hyde Hall near Chelmsford in Essex, and the National Trust's Anglesey Abbey in Cambridgeshire, so looked for somewhere partway between the two.

Driven as much by the availability of Air BnB lets as knowledge of the area, we stumbled on Barkway, a lovely old coaching village once on the London to Cambridge route; in fact, our above-garage studio was in the grounds of one of the many former inns. Although it's grown over the years Barkway hasn't sprawled in the way so many Midlands villages have done and is still surrounded by open countryside, which tempted us out walking.

Lyveden New Bield

For March the weather could not have been better. Skies were blue, the sun shone, and though admittedly the breeze was at times a little brisk it wasn't as rough as the gales of a few weeks ago.

Hyde Hall garden 

On the way south, we stopped off at Lyveden New Bield in Northamptonshire, visitd Hyde Hall and Maldon one day, walked around Barkway the next morning and visited Wimpole Hall (Cambridgeshire) in the afternoon, and on the way home visited Chishill windmill, Anglesey Abbey, and Houghton Mill (all in Cambridgeshire).

Thames barges at Maldon

All of these places were new to me, so a great way to kick off my holidays for this year.

Walking near Barkway

There are more posts (links will turn blue as I add them) and pictures to follow so for now, here's just a few.

Wimpole Hall 

Chishill post mill

Anglesey Abbey

Houghton Mill

In all it was an unexpectedly delightful area to discover, a great way to start this year's adventures, and I'm already thinking about returning at a different time of year.