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A new
challenge - A variation on a walk from Baldock to Royston in a day - part 4
- what about the clocks?
My
route
on the first of the two walks at the end of October would take me from
BaldockGM
through
RushdenGM,
SandonGM,
TherfieldGM and
RoystonGM
whilst the subsequent ramble
on the
morning of Saturday 6th November, followed the villages of
BaldockGM,
ClothalGM,
WallingtonGM,
Shaw Green,
RushdenGM,
SandonGM
and ending short in
TherfieldGM,
in reality, a variation, that of including the Icknield Way from Clothall
and the village of Wallington, where George Orwell (1903-1950), born Eric
Blair, had lived from 1936 until 1948. Colleague Annie Brinsley, who was
accompanying me on the walk was the one to inform me of this, having existed
in ignorance on the many occasions I had cycled through this very village.
The path from Wallington Road reached the church of St Mary and the kind,
elderly lady who had been arranging the flowers introduced herself as Mary Corkhill, who lived at the thatched cottage I had so long admired on The
Street in the village. She recognised my accent and told me of South
Africans who had just moved into the village.
She joked that she had been
born Mary Angle and as sweet and kind as she was, that was the very image
she projected. Despite her ripe age, her mind was sharp and clear and
indicated that she had known the previous owner of the house on the A507 Clothall Road Annie and Dougie had recently purchased. She offered Annie
apples from her garden, which she duly collected the next day. At the junction of
Wallington Road and The Street, on the opposite corner to the thatched
cottage where Mrs Corkhill now lives, George Orwell took over tenancy of the
cottage turned into a village shop, known as 'The Stores', on 2nd April,
1936. He needed somewhere where he could concentrate on writing, and once
again help was provided by Aunt Nellie who was living in the cottage, with
almost no modern facilities in a tiny village. |
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He spent hours working in the
garden, exploring the possibility of reopening the village shop, where he
kept chickens, geese and goats.
On the 9th June
1936 George Orwell married Eileen O'Shaughnessy in a simple ceremony at St
Mary's. He retained 'The Stores' until 1948. However, during this time he
was often away. In 1936 he went away to fight for the Republicans in the
Spanish Civil War. He was back in Wallington by July 1937. He then wrote
'Homage to Catalonia' which was published in April 1938. In that year he
started work on 'Coming up for Air' but in March was forced to go to a
sanitorium in Kent because of tuberculosis. After the outbreak of the war
the Orwells mainly lived in London and the cottage was closed for the
duration. Orwell saw himself as a democratic socialist who avoided party
labels, hated totalitarianism and was to become more and more disillusioned
with the methods of Communism, whose ideals had attracted him in the first
place. It is this view that was the basis of 'Animal Farm', a political
satire and one of his most popular works, which he wrote between Autumn 1943
and April 1944. Although Orwell was away from Wallington when he wrote
'Animal Farm', the rural setting of his cottage must have influenced the way
he chose to portray his political ideas in the book. Many of the scenes are
thought to have been placed in the Great Barn at Manor Farm which still
stands today and the fictional village in the book where 'Animal Farm' was
based was called Wallington. |
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Looking back along the Icknield Way
on the path from Clothall to Wallington. |
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'The Stores', once the home of George
Orwell, from 1936 until 1948. |
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St Mary's Church in Wallington,
North Hertfordshire. |
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The flower-lady in St Mary's Church,
as we entered;
Annie with Mary Corkhill; St Mary's. |
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A farm just outside Wallington; |
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On the path between Wallington and
Shaw Green; Between Shaw Green and Rushden, the path is waterlogged in
places. |
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We left the village of
Wallington turning right down a dirt road after leaving the church grounds,
where we picked up the path we hoped we lead us towards Shaw Green. We
entered a Nature Reserve known as Wallington Common and due it being a dense
wood without landmarks, we were uncertain as to our precise whereabouts but
kept going nonetheless. We then arrived at a road and some cottages, which I
recognised from a previous occasion I had pushed my bike along the bridleway
due to strands of thorn bush which had been trimmed off and lay on the
pathway. Still unsure, we enquired from one of the cottage residents and he
duly pointed us in the direction of Rushden. We reached a tree-lined path
and I knew that if we continued along it, we would eventually reach Munches
Wood and locate the path leading off to Rushden just prior to it, as I had
done the week before. We stopped at the bus stop in Rushden for lunch and a
tea and a couple came by to hang balloons and notice informing guests of a
birthday party at the local church. We then climbed the road up into the
village and continued past the many old thatched farm cottages, some of
Tudor style, until we reached the church of St Mary's, adjacent to which was
where the children's birthday party was being held in the church hall. |
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Old farmhouse typical of Rushden;
The Rose and the Crown, Rushden, probably once a pub. |
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At the gate leading to St Mary's
Church, Rushden, Hertfordshire. |
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St Mary's Church, Rushden,
Hertfordshire |
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Thatched cottage, Rushden; Cottage
window; A novel appeal to motorists passing through Rushden along
Treacle Lane. |
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Although a very
small village, Rushden has a colourful and varied history and was
mentioned in the Domesday Book, the record of the great survey of
much of England and parts of Wales, completed in 1086 and executed
for the Norman King, William the Conqueror. The size of the village
has doubled since 1086 when there were only 100 inhabitants. The
nave of the church of St Mary was built in 1350 and later the tower.
In James I's reign as Tudor king of England and Scotland after the
forced abdication of his mother Mary Queen of Scots, the depression
caused the gentlemen and yeomen to start selling to the London City
men while other poorer people began buying common fields. Outlying
bits of farms were sold by the big landowners. Between 1603 and 1618
nearly the whole village changed hands. Between 1650-1660 there was
an influx of inhabitants and a population of 200.
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Annie on the path leading out of
Rushden. |
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View towards Southern Green en route
from Rushden to Broadfield Hall. |
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Sunlight through the forest, close
to Broadfield Hall. |
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Wood Farm near Green End, at
dusk; The Fox and the Duck finally reached after nightfall. |
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Annie and I returned to
Treacle Lane to continue our walk, passing the tongue-in-cheek road sign
which read: "Please drive slowly. Free Range Children". As the road peters
out giving rise to a path along a line of trees turning one way and then the
other until it enters a forest, we retraced my steps of the week before. Not
wishing to end up in Southern Green again, I opted for the path leading to
the right where it divides, which emerged at a clearing on the edge of a
very muddy, ploughed field. Noticing a footpath sign in the distance we
crossed the field (as designated on the map). At a row of trees we
discovered a wooden bridge, the location of which we had mistaken on the
map. Broadfield Hall Farm came into view however in reality we couldn't find
an easy way across the land to it, so we returned to the bridge, instead
picking up a farm track which we knew led to the tarred road running past
the farm. Turning north, we then walked to Broadfield Lodge Farm, passing
the outbuildings.
We seemed to have lost
time relative to the previous week and I was conscious of the fact that we
were losing daylight. By now we increased he pace significantly as we
marched on via Friar's Wood and Beckfield Farm to Sandon, where I finished
my remaining tea. By the time we had reached the Icknield Way and its
junction with Kelshall Lane track just south of Therfield, it was almost
dark. I had completely forgotten that since the previous week's walk, the
clocks in the UK had gone back an hour, meaning that it would be dark around
five in the afternoon! This oversight meant that Annie wasn't keen on doing
the last section of the walk from Therfield to Royston, a duration of at
least 45 minutes. She then phoned her daughter, who was in the town of
Hertford at the time with a friend, to fetch her at The Fox and the Duck in
Therfield. The astounded inn-keeper welcomed us as we entered the pub and
requested drinks. Annie then prepared a text message on her mobile phone to
provide Sophie with directions however the signal in the pub was poor. Just
as she opened the pub door, Sophie and her friend had just pulled up, so we
had a good laugh about that. We hadn't even begun to down our drinks, so
they also ordered. I gratefully accepted a lift to my home in Royston,
though I could probably have walked the distance in the dark quite easily.
It was cold however and therefore I had no real desire to do so. I had been
left with an obligation to complete the walk at a later stage at Annie's
request. |
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