The only way is Essex

December 12, 2011

The only way is Essex

I’d love to say that finding myself watching the Antiques Roadshow on a Sunday evening is an extremely rare occurrence, but for one reason or another it seems to be happening worryingly frequently. This is mainly down to the fact that once the Strictly results are announced I’ve gone past the point of wanting to get off the sofa, but I also suspect it’s yet another inevitable rung on the ladder to middle age. Like my new-found passion for beetroot.

Anyway, last night’s episode was filmed at Layer Marney Tower in Essex, which looked like just the kind of place I’d like to visit but which I’d never heard of. Even though I spent three years of my life drinking alcopops in a Student Union bar just eight miles down the road. It turns out the impressive Tudor house is also a location for next year’s gothic horror blockbuster The Woman in Black starring Daniel Radcliffe. If it doesn’t rain 16th century ornate gatehouses, it pours...

A horror film might not be the best advert for this corner of the UK, but the Essex countryside really is a bit of a hidden gem in terms of weekends away. Even in my drink-addled student days I managed to drag flatmates off campus on a few occasions for walks in the lovely Dedham Vale or a romp around the romantic Hedingham Castle. Best of all, the vast Blackwater Estuary (which is overlooked by Layer Marney Tower) offers a sense of quiet isolation and beauty you would never expect from the home of Stacey Solomon and vajazzling. And all just over an hour from London.

Layer Marney has been added to my ever-growing ‘Places to visit in the new year’ list. I might even take a bottle of Bacardi Breezer for old times’ sake.



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