For over a decade, it’s been a tradition now for my friend Liam and myself to take part in the Stansted Stagger, a 26 mile challenge event put on by the Essex & Herts LDWA group. A walk at this time of the year is always a bit of excitement as there is the potential for a lot of mud, a lot of ice, a lot of rain and a lot of complaining from me. The drive there was marked by a series of Greggs being shut when they weren’t meant to be, so that was sub-optimal but I was too tired to be be pre-annoyed.
Liam got us safely to Stansted Mountfitchet where the walk starts. There were around 180 people taking part and there was a positive atmosphere whilst I focused on how many biscuits I could eat without looking greedy.
It was time for the walk to start and Liam and I seemed to be at the back, which is where we kept ourselves for much of the day. Some of the Norfolk & Suffolk contingent rushed off, but someone mentioned that it was probably just Simon H showing off. Someone in our group also mentioned that they were hungry, but fortunately, this event has 2.5 checkpoints so there was certainly lots to look forwards to.
We strolled past St. Mary the Virgin’s Church which is located just outside of Stansted Mountfitchet.
This is Arthur Findlay College, located at Stansted Hall, which is managed by the Spiritualists’ National Union. Arthur Findlay (1883-1964) was a stockbroker who became very involved with the spiritualist movement and he was one of the founders of the Psychic News. Stansted Hall, which is mostly from the late seventeenth century, was purchased by Findlay in 1923 and it was left to the Spiritualist movement in 1964 following his death.
Very pretty ice formations. We were fortunate that there was no snow, unlike the Norfolk we had departed, and relatively little ice. I have near zero ability to walk on ice, so this pleased me greatly. On reflection, this was the least muddy Stansted Stagger I’ve ever taken part in and that suited me on this occasion even as an experienced mud run person.
I appeared to be the only one in shirt sleeves as I thought it was getting a bit hot. The sun was quite clearly blazing down at this point, which is a field near to the village of Pledgdon Green.
The route that the organisers chose was a new one to me and it circumnavigated Stansted Airport. This was my favourite route that the event has taken, as it changes from year to year, although I was surprised just how little of the airport we saw as it seems to be landscaped away a bit. It was harder for them to blend the aircraft into the background though, so we were able to do some plane spotting.
The tilted sign amused me. I don’t get out much.
This was Mill Race, the former water channel for powering the mill at Tilty Abbey.
These are the remnants of what is left of Tilty Abbey, but I’ve written about this separately.
We then approached the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, which is the former chapel outside the walls of the abbey. When the abbey was suppressed following the Reformation, this became the parish church. But, I’ve written about this separately as well.
Sub-optimal and a reminder of the dangers of the cold weather. The police were aware of the car, but this looks like it must have been a frightening thing to happen.
And safely into the first checkpoint at Great Easton. I was surprised and delighted to see that there were some cheese & pickle sandwiches, which are one of my favourite things, so I had several of those. There were also jelly babies, crisps, mince pies, hot cross buns, biscuits and chocolate and so that’s all my main food groups covered. There was some fruit as well I think for those that like that.
The volunteers across the whole event were brilliant, full of enthusiasm and the LDWA is very fortunate to have so many people willing to help. And, from personal experience, it’s a lot of fun volunteering at events as well.
The church of St. John & St. Giles at Great Easton. It’s not a great photo as I was balancing crisps and jelly babies in my hand whilst trying to take a photo.
Rob had dropped a bit to walk with Liam and I for the next stage, here there are waiting for me to balance my snacks whilst taking a photo of the village of Great Easton.
This is the intriguing church at Little Easton and I’ve written more about that separately.
Horse Pond in Little Easton, located opposite from the Great Pond and the manor house.
Despite never being far away from Stansted Airport, it was rarely visible, but the control tower did appear from time to time. We certainly had no shortage of planes taking off and landing to look at during the walk.
This is All Saints Church at Canfield End with the walk going through the churchyard. It wasn’t known who the original dedication of the church was to, so in February 1900 it was dedicated to All Saints by the Bishop Suffragan of Colchester. The nave is from the twelfth century, but the chancel and most of the interior is from the nineteenth century.
The second checkpoint was located near to Great Canfield and it had plenty of seating for the weary. Obviously, as an athlete I didn’t need a seat.
Well, how lovely.
Those warm apple pies with custard towards the front were the standout food item here, and there was a lot of competition. I actually didn’t even notice the wraps until looking at this photo, such was the choice, although I think I was focused on the crisps.
The checkpoint menu. Bear in mind this entire event costs £15 or so for members, we get that much value from the food alone. Well, I do.
I took a cake to help sustain me for the next part of the walk.
An interesting tree near Great Canfield.
I can think of a few people who could go in these at Hellmans Cross.
And the peace oak in the same village that I’ve already written about.
The former railway station at Takeley, I’ll write about this separately and drop the link in here later.
The bridge underneath the appropriately named Station Road, this is the stretch on the former railway line from Braintree to Bishops Stortford which is now known as the Flitch Way.
The former station halt at Stane Street, which I’ve written about separately.
Rob decided he would rush off at this point, but Liam and I decided we would just amble along. We rushed the Capital Challenge last year and sometimes it’s best to just take it easy.
The final checkpoint by the Dunmow Road which was advertised as a water stop but actually had some snacks as well, which pleased me. But my two loyal blog readers would have guessed that.
Then it was a series of bridge and tunnel crossings to get over the M11.
The bendy signage at Birchanger.
And back to the start at Stansted Mountfitchet….
Julian “I’m not very hungry, I likely won’t have anything at the end” White….. That carrot cake was delicious.
I accept that this wasn’t our fastest time, but it’s not a race and we had a really rather lovely day. For anyone tempted to take part, absolutely do, it’s a manageable distance with plenty of food, drink and encouragement at the checkpoints. The volunteers were all wonderful and so many thanks for all the time they put in to planning this event, which really is great value. We’ll be back next year!