Visit to Essex

I'm just back from a visit to Essex to see my parents.
The journey down was a bit different because the train service was canceled due to lack of staff. In place was a minibus which  took me to first to Roy Bridge then Tulloch station then back towards Glasgow ( so I passed my front door for a second time after about half an hour of travelling ) Despite this the driver got me to Glasgow quicker than the train would have done. During all that time I was the only passenger!
From Glasgow I took the overnight bus to London . After a coffee I took the tube all the way out to Epping. My plan was to run to my parents house about thirty miles East of there using the Essex Way footpath and then the St Peter's Way footpath. Unfortunately I was suffering from a flare up of the anterior tibialis tendonitis that started on my West Highland Way race attempt. I enjoyed running through the woodland and  on the footpaths but was forced to walk more and more as the pain and swelling in my leg increased
.I stopped for a while at the ancient Greensted Church. It is the only wooden Saxon church still standing. It was constructed about 1060 replacing an earlier building. The wooden walls are made from grooved vertically placed oak logs .Originally they would have been hammered into the ground but the bottoms have rotted so they are now on a brick plinth. Even so it is very impressive to think of the generations of people who have worshipped, been baptised , married or had funerals there all the way back to the 11th century. I sat in the quiet cool dark church and sketched some of the roof timbers .

From there I walked to Chipping Ongar  and then threw in the towel. I took a bus to Chelmsford then phoned for a lift from my Dad. I was disappointed not to do the run but there was no point in hurting my leg further .

My niece Olivia was staying with my parents as well so it was good to catch up.We spent a lot of time in the garden talking and drinking tea. On the Friday we went to London as my niece was going back to Derbyshire.After we had seen her on the train we went to Dulwich Gallery which had an exhibition of John Singer Sargent's watercolours. This was quite exciting or me as I have admired his watercolours for a long time. It was really good to 'see them in the flesh' and try to work out his technique. It was interesting to see that he used quite a lot of bodycolour for accents and used varied washes and negative shapes very effectively.
As my running was curtailed I was able to do more reading and sketching than is normal . I picked up Alain De Botton's " Status Anxiety" in a charity shop and  found it very readable. I have also been reading  "Tools of Titans" by Tim Ferriss which is a beast of a book filled with inspiration.
I did manage a few slow jogs to some of my favourite haunts at Beeleigh and Purleigh.