Drink and Babylon!

 

I spent an enjoyable hour listening to a podcast from the 'National Archives.' 

I knew about these but only recently began to listen to them.  Today I listened to one from 2006.

Phillipa Glanville, from the V&A museum, discussing 'The Dichotomies of Drink.'  Very interesting this was too.  A clever woman, well researched, and clearly spoken, discussing drink from the late 1600s up until recent times.  The development of whisky taught me much I did not know, the growth of beer in its many forms, wine, political intrusion and responses to European wars, and the public response during difficult times.

Water being rough if not impure led to much beer drinking, of a  weak kind.  War in Europe led to sales of whisky and rum growing.  Drunkenness also grew alongside the increase in alcohol sales.  Who would have thought...?

A good Podcast, and well worth a listen and I suspect many more also.

This is a good book!

Good that is if you like reading about ancient Mesopotamia!

I do.

Paul Kriwaczek, a Viennese, was head of Central Asian Affairs at the BBC World Service for 25 years.  His wide knowledge of many languages no doubt aided his studies.  This book was published in 2010, a year before he died.

Beginning by comparing Saddam Hussein with the great leaders who had gone before him millennia ago helps us understand, he says, how life in the region continues in similar fashion since settlement began.  Human nature after all, does not change.

From Eridu in the south, where incoming peoples gathered around 5000 BC, through until the fall of Babylon to the Persians and the end of what the author calls the 'first stage' in civilisation, we follow the development of the various societies and indeed Pauls interesting, but not always correct thoughts on the matter.  

Paul was an intelligent and thoughtful man, however, some of his opinions were lacking in my view, indeed, somewhat idiosyncratic I would say.  His view on what was the 'Flood,' is worth reading, but somehow lacks substance to me.  

We hear of the rise of the Sumer super states, Ur and Uruk, the opposition from Elam, and the constant flow of peoples throughout time who eventually take over and, according to the author, continue the culture that they find.  

We read of Gilgamesh, and the various people who brought the rise and fall, and rise again, of Babylon and then Assyria.  Famous names such as Hammurabi pass by, less famous names come and go, leaving a mark in their day and going the way of all flesh into obscurity.  

Of course the rise of both Babylon and Assyria, and her fall, takes up some room.  Both, thanks to scripture, are renown in the west, though not accurately I suggest.  Paul describes the situation at various times attempting to enliven the image, he makes a story of the situation, often I found quite well, and throughout the book he remains easily readable, even I could understand the big words.

The study of those clay tablets covered in 'cuneiform' have offered us much detail on the life of people in the area.  This includes letters from a wife to her far off husband complaining about what he has taken with him on business, or detailing her efforts to sell the goods he has sent back from far off.  

It amazes me how much detail can be found, and it is exciting to consider how many thousands of these tablets have still to be translated.

We see the rise and fall of Assyria, her determination never to be put down again, resulting in her harsh treatment of those who resist.  Our author details also Assyria's harsh treatment of women, so harsh that it is possible to see how Islam can regard their treatment of women as protective!   

States cannot exist for ever under violence, eventually people rebel.  Babylon took over for a period, then the Persians ended this period of life.  Things were never the same again.

Ancient Sumer, and those that came after, developed the sciences as far as possible in their day.  Much of the maths known to the Greeks was already found in Ur and Uruk.  Architecture and art developed quickly, agriculture, in spite of mistakes, fed the people well, and life developed from Temple led authority governing an organised society, to a more 'free enterprise' world under the Kings.  The rich got richer and the poor remained poor as in all societies, but differing times had different responses to human need.

I liked this book, I disagreed with much of Pauls understanding of the situation, but I would wouldn't I?

This book is an easy read, full of information, offers a large reading list at the end, and is well worth spending time on.  Such a shame the author has passed on.

Slovenly Sabbath

This was the threat today, along with thunder and lightning and heavy rain.

Feeling a bit peaky over the past couple of days I was intending to remain indoors anyway, so I spent some time watching the weather on 'Microsoft Edge' bringing the rain across at the time I normally leave on a Sunday morn.

They said it would arrive at 10 minutes to 10, but it failed to come.

They said it would be 'light rain,' and it did arrive at 10 minutes past 10, and failed to drop any rain.

'Moderate rain,' was to follow shortly after, the clouds darkened, but no rain fell.

Innit just marvellous!

On any other Sunday I would have proceeded out, as the weather looked OK, and got drenched half way down the road.  Today nothing.  I will trust the BBC from now on.

So, instead of trekking out I remained indoors intent of reading one of these.

I have one I bought back in the 80s when the NIV first arrived.   It is showing signs of wear, not always because of constant reading I should emphasise, and requires to be put aside on the 'retired book shelf.'  It was as I glanced at the scribbles inside the front pages I found a little thing from the late 70s.  I was in the hospital, and short of cash.  One Sunday evening I found myself full of 'faith,' that the money I needed for the week would arrive.  At that time I required £1 a day.  Being paid on Thursdays meant I needed £3 for the week.  I knew this would arrive.

Monday morning I arrived at work as my usual happy self, "Here's old misery," said John the cook as I entered.  I ignored him, and the collection off lesser staff gathered around the front door at 7:30 in the morning.  

I remained full of faith, and on my clock card, remember them?  I found a cheque for £3.

This was a payment owned me by the NHS which had not been paid via my wages as it ought to be.

God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform.

So many times, when down on my 'uppers' the Good Lord has provided in interesting ways.

He never leaves us.

(Mind you, he does not make us rich either!)

An answer to my query has arrived.

One of my favourite, beautiful, and highly talented nieces had sent this beer to me.

She has also sent a card which has, so far, not appeared.  This may be because of the incompetence of the Royal Mail management, or some 'dick' pinching it thing money was included.  How wrong he would be.  It may appear one day, as may others that have not arrived.  

I have spent some time in these days looking in to the 'Tour.'

Not that I am really all that interested in who wins these days but I do like watching the background scenery.  

Today and yesterday there was an abundance of small, tight knit villages.  Usually a church and a castle or some once proud, but now broken down building from the days of long ago is glanced as we pass.  These villages today were astonishing.  Crammed together cheek by jowl, as they say, it indicated something of the history of the region, though all I could think was how everyone must have known everything about everyone!  No secrets here.  

I am also impressed at men cycling 100 miles and climbing hills at 15 mph, sometimes faster.  Now, for myself I often had to climb off and push the bike, and that was going downhill!  How do these men do this?  Over 4 hours of cycling today, finishing up a steep, and very high hill, with a wonderful view, but a killer for the man who led so long and got beat at the last.

I think I will make sure I still have my Bus Pass.

Beer Query

Life is full of mystery.

The doorbell rang, ding-dong, ding-dong, as it does, for the second day in a row.  This is unusual.

I fell down the stairs gracefully and opened the door to a driver, from DHL, possibly the best 'white van man' around, and accepted a box, a box that when lifted revealed that glass bottles were inside.

This, following on from the previous day, when a lassie of Indonesian like origin, proffered a large envelope bag to me.  

Neither had I ordered.

The first contained items originating in Edinburgh, a hamper for my ageing birthday.  A note inside indicated the sender, one I had been warned to accept.

This second box however, contained no information as to sender.  Nothing on the outside, nothing on the inside of the extremely well packed box.  A box that will be re-used come Christmas.

So, having begun a new diet regime, a diet so successful that the other day I ate very little, yet overnight increased weight by 6 pounds!  These later arrivals have not helped.

Last night, the new neighbour knocked on my door.  No-one had shown them where the electricity meter was!  To ask, she offered me two cakes, of outstanding quality, from the shop where she works, I could not refuse.   I had one for breakfast, this lasted me for a good while.

Strangely, the weight has lessened!

However, the four tempting bottles of beer, standing over there offering to increase my weight and kill my brain, are still unaccounted for.  I mean, who sent them?  The family have not replied, it is Saturday I suppose, but I remain in the dark as to the origin of the booze.

I confess, remaining in the dark is not unknown in this dwelling.

Brexit Beer

 

This is not as you may surmise my daily beer intake, indeed beer is something I use er, sparingly.

There is not a requirement to justify such an intake by mentioning Martin Luther loved beer, he was after all German, and his kind of beer would be different from that found there today, Lager mostly I think.  The difference between the two drinks is clear, men drink beer, boys drink lager.  Lager is the fuel for young men, football hooligans and those perspiring under a heatwave.  Men drink the brown stuff!  

Brexit however has interfered!

I read the other day a warning by a supermarket expert, a proper one, not one found in the daily Hacks.  He indicated how supermarkets decide what is shown on the shelves during a lorry or goods shortage, one thing that suffers is Beer!  The supermarkets decide what you eat, drink and can obtain, their power drives what is delivered to their door.  However, the big lager companies, Fosters, Heineken and Stella I think, pay for shelf space in supermarkets so their brew will always be available. Individual beers, no matter how big the brewery, on the other hand do not, the sales are less so they disappear.  Possibly this explains why empty shelves in Sainsburys are stacked with cases of 'Stella' lager?  They pay so they fill spaces.

Therefore, I am taking no chances and stocking up in a less than panic like manner with goods that I require, and indeed one or two others I rarely use.  Other items are disappearing at an alarming rate.  It is wise to ensure the major items, like beer, are well stocked.

The Brexit experts tell us real Brexit does not begun until January 1st, so you can imagine what things will be like then!  If we have no lorry drivers now, few more then, much more stringent paper checks at borders, how will goods pass through?  I suppose we could get the little boats crossing the channel to carry some goods with them, even Farage might let them in then.  

 

Bottled or Tinned?

An American gentleman, if there is such a thing, posted, on behalf of his dog who struggles with keyboards, about the Brewing of Beer.  This is a subject much loved by people with nothing else to do.  A blog worth reading I say.

Naturally I was intrigued.  The detailed information even going far back into History to the dawn of life in Sumer 5000 years ago.  Here women brewed beer as this was a mainstay in those crowded cities, it was issued to the workforce as payment along with a bowl of food, and women had nothing else to do with their time.  The inference of the Dogs long tale, which is well worth a read, being that beer was always brewed by women until men took over.  Typical feminism!  This shows how strong a hold his wife has on him!

 

 

This reminded me of my third job, I having quickly been disposed off by the first and second ones for the rather unfortunate talent of being totally useless.  For four years I developed this talent in the office taking orders over the phone from pubs around the nation and pushing bits of paper together to organise loads for the lorry drivers.  Actual 'work' I knew not.  It was not a bad time for a ignorant 16 or so year old and when I reached 18 I received an allowance of beer for myself FREE! 

 

 

 

Tennents produced a famous Lager, the kind of beer drunk by youths just to get drunk rather than real beer for taste.  This was not brewed in Edinburgh as far as I knew, that came from the Glasgow brewery but as far as I know both have long closed so I no longer know where it originates these days.

However, each day I passed through the huge noisy bottling plant where all to often bottles of 'Piper Export' were passing by.  This replaced the failing 'Husky Export' which had to be put down.  'Piper' itself was also 'improved' as sales were poor, but in thosed ays all beer was losing flavour and large breweries cared not for taste. 

During the late 60's and through the 70's both 'Tennents,' part of the huge 'Bass Charrington Brewery,' and 'Scottish Brewers,' chose to lower the quality of their beers and produced cheap, easily made simple beers.  The quality of the public houses reflected the unoriginal taste of the beer.  This was universal, in England 'Watneys' produced 'Red Barrel' beer, somewhat akin to left over washing up water, but this came in large '7 Pint' tins which found favour with partygoers who care little what they drink.  

In days of yore beer was counted in shillings, 60/- was light beer, 70/- mild and 80/- 'Heavy.'  The term 'India Pale Ale' I believe came about as 60/- beer lasted the voyage to the Raj in India better than any other.  

However, at Tennents the slop we sold included 'Toby Beer,' and English intrusion that was taken in lorries equipped with large containers filled with beer.  For some reason Miners welfare clubs found this popular.  Interestingly, the miners of Ayrshire like light beer, the 60/-, but it had to be 'Extra Dark.'  If you take a barrel of beer and add a thimble of dye it becomes 'Dark,' two thimbles it becomes 'Extra Dark.'  The miners of Fife however refuse this dark 60/-, indeed, if you gave it to them they would refuse it because "The taste is off."  The Ayrshire men felt the same in reverse.  

The Lager cans decorated with the 'Lovelies' you see at the top were very popular at the time.  By the 70's however ugly girls were being upset as the attention of men became lodged on looking at the cans and not them, so they shouted about  'early sexism,' and had them stopped.  The girls themselves continued to pose as far as I know elsewhere, too grown up to follow such nonsense, and they made money.

Eventually, just as I was enjoying my work, the girls answering the phones needed me they said, and I needed them more than I ever said, but change was coming.  The office was a place where we talked openly about many things and life was good, but Jesus intervened.  One day as I collected my free beers he arrived and said "Oi! Walk this way."  So I did, sort off, moving to London and soon working in a charitable organisation 'Helping people.'  At least that what I said.  

By this time people were sick of grotty beer and a campaign began to return to a higher standard.  Soon smaller breweries were arriving and offering proper beer again, and today they appear to be in many peoples back gardens.  Not that they can sell much during LockDown unless a supermarket takes them on.  The slop mostly died away, Tennents Lager continues, youth gurgles it down and men over 35 drink stuff with flavour.  

Is it too late for one now?

 

Leaflets

It is policy of Royal mail to deliver three items of junk mail to each and every house throughout the land.  This annoys some, pleases those who send them and irks badly the postie who has to carry 500 or so on top of all the other mail.  They do get a few pence for them, not as much as they did once, RM cut the payment to the postie while the useless union agreed.  It could be worse however, some time back they wanted the postman to carry 9 of these each week, increasing the weight in his sack three fold and adding about an extra half hour a day sorting the junk.  That at least failed.  
Here I have some regulars, the pizza advert being the most popular through the door and one of the worst to deliver.  Small 'Pizza Hut' pizza's start at around £10 -£15. I buy mine for £1 in Tesco.  Who bys these at that price, and how often do they bring them in?  Now I like a pizza now and again, though the nurse insists I don't, but I wonder how many folks laziness make use of home delivered pizzas rather than eating food?  Remember we also have 'Domino's' down the road and other smaller pizza outlets.  Now I like the idea of food delivered to the door, not that I like the price mind, but a cheap Tesco one suits me.  Clearly these leaflets work well when selling pizzas as everybody is dropping them weekly through our door.  
'Specsavers' is another regular one.  Clearly this company is doing well as every three months or so a wee mag drops in cheerfully advertising hugely expensive glasses while the girl is always disappointed when I go as I always plead pensioner poverty and go for the cheapest.  The girls are usually too young to know what that means!  This one I don't mind as I have to go sometime, I ought to go this year, and while today it features nothing relevant you never know.
'Sky' meanwhile are offering me a saving off £150 if I use their mobile.  The mobile on offer is one of those nice Chinese ones, 'Huawei,' you know the people who invest in your technology and pass all your secrets back to Beijing?  Well done 'Sky' that's just what I want, well I might if I had some friends to make phone calls to, which I haven't  so I will save a great deal more by recycling this one.
The beer club might be more popular however.  This one offers a free case off trendy beers, 8 in the case plus magazine and snack, and if you join the club you get the same, with differing beers each month for a mere £24 a go!  Hold on, if I buy in Tesco I get 8 beers for about £14 depending on what I buy.  Why pay more for 8 different drinks in which 6 might be rubbish?  Some might be tempted.  This reminds me of a man I once worked with, he belonged to the 'Whisky a Month club.'  He was so into this that when a friend looked after his house while he and the wife were on holiday (in far off Scotland visiting distilleries) she reported the place awash with bottles.  Each contained some whisky at different levels but they lay about all over the place.  I was not surprised to see him recently as he recovered from what looked like a stroke, I suggest I know a reason for this.    
From a business point of view these leaflets are worth it.  Deliver to 10,000 houses and depending on what you sell you will get enough business to make money.  Continue for ever there after and your business will grow or at least it will if you provide a good service.  Leaflets, junk mail, work!  You and I might dump them but most folks look through them before they are recycled.  That way one will eventually catch the eye and money is spent.  There after the leaflets continue.
My recycling bag likes them...

Camulodunum Trip

Dragging myself out of my pit I raced slowly into Camulodunum today on the zimmer free bus.  This because I wished to peruse the many charity shops in that rich and prosperous town.  This indeed I did but was again frustrated by all charity shops refusal to stock items that fit me!  Usually they are too small, today the only option was to big.  That does not happen often and I suppose I could grow into it but I wish my weight to go in the other direction.  I slogged around even visiting 'Primark' the new shop that sells things cheaply, though I noticed that in the three years since I last visited prices have risen and I am sure the Bangladeshi workers have not had a rise.  Possibly they have made the sweat shops safer since the last disastrous fire there a few years ago.  However I did require cheap jeans and I have them, they fit, sort off, will they after being washed however...?

  
Lunch was taken at noon in a surprisingly quiet pub, £4:65 for a pint of 'Maltsmith IPA' indicates why. The drink was indeed good and worthy of buying again but not at that rip-off price.  It was clear this was an evening venue (Called 'After Office Hours') and aimed at twenty somethings with too much money and not enough brains.       

The modern trend of vast empty spaces and few seats as folks crush together getting cheap thrills and meeting the right people.  The wooden flooring was genuine in pubs I used to visit in days gone by, not s clean and much busier at all times of day, not just overpaid trendy types either.  I suppose we were the trendy types then, sad innit?
Next time I will go back to the 'Hospital Arms' they are just as unfriendly but considerably cheaper.  When I think of it a similar but busier pub down the road was the one I used last time, the beer wasn't so good but cheaper and the girls better looking and alive.  I'll remember that for next time I am charity shop searching.

The bus was of course ten minutes late.  We stood at the stop grasping our varied travel cards and coins glaring hard towards the buses parked just around the corner willing ours to move out.  I retook my seat and allowed the remnants of the beer to chase around my body giving some sort of life to my weakened knees.  It did not liven me up much.  Eventually he  came and I was afraid the women would start shouting at the driver and he would respond by closing the doors and running but they were wise enough to shut it and clamber aboard while they still lived.  

The view, while enjoyable, was not at its best.  The grass in many places has withered and green fields were the colour of the wheat and barley seen in many other places.  Those crops while many were being gathered in are smaller than they ought to be as the several weeks of drought at the wrong time have not helped them.  Here something green, cabbage possibly, difficult to tell when moving, was a decent colour but small in size as seen from the omnibus.  The crops are being gathered and tractors of enormous size block the roads cheerily and very soon such produce will be enabling Tesco to increase their prices 'because of the drought.'  It is rather a shame as it spoils the view somewhat but there again just being out of town and watching the fields instead of the hovel in which I live is a needed change.

"We Apologise for the Delay..."

The sun is shining, it's everywhere, don't have no worries, don't have no care so I trooped off to the bus stop for what the internet told me was the 10:29 bus.  Naturally the Bus station indicator read 10:33.  I waited, he waited, then she also waited but nothing happened.  We stared at the bus station entrance but that did not work until I got fed up of warming myself amongst this lot and headed down to the railway station where I changed my tentative plans and reached for my old man 30% off card.  Colchester it was then and he comes my train as I changed at Witham running on time to take me to my destination.
My knees were not too keen however.

This was not my real intention today as I had t come here many times a few years ago and did not find much enthusiasm for the place.  I had less enthusiasm for the adolescents from the collage wandering about like 16 year old's.

 
The Mill here on the Colne River has been in use at least since the 1100's and possibly from before that.  Most of the time it dealt with 'corn,' that is wheat to you and me, but occasionally had other uses.  Colchester of course goes back to the Romans and before them possibly the site was used early after the last ice age 8000 years BC.

You can see from this how effective the hillside offered a defensive perimeter.  After the Romans rather stupidly did not organise such defences Boudica destroyed the place and Mr Emperor ensured such a mistake did not happen again.  Much altered since it shows just how difficult an attack from ground level would have been.  

Being one not renowned for intellectual stimulus I continued to walk very slowly in heat reaching some say 29%.  The walk around the castle park is indeed long and while my body ached I found I just had to see what was around the corner.  I knew a pill box stood nearby having found it 20 years ago and here it remains.  Blocked off now and impossible to enter it was part of the UK's defences against that nice Mr Hitler who did not bother to visit. 

Situated here on a bend of the Colne it offered the defenders a good view of the river, and I suspect most of the trees had been removed then to give a clear sight to them, it also offered a very good chance of death if attacked as not other pill box stands nearby to cover, unless it stood on the other bank among the new housing estates.

 

If indeed the trees were scrubbed in 1940 they have returned well in the years since.  All around the trees tower overhead and these men in particular impressed me with their height.  That may have had something to do with the blue sky and burning sun behind them of course.

Now remember I just wanted a dawdle in the sun not a twenty mile hike and here I was, at two miles an hour, hurpling along further and further from the railway station and knowing full well that I had miles to go back to get home.  It was however the old desire to see what was round the corner once again that made me limp on.  How stupid can an individual be?  I was aware of many things forgotten since the last sunshine many moons ago.  I ought to have worn the sunglasses glasses not these ones, I ought to have a hankie to wipe away the perspiration that flowed so easily, and I ought to have ensured I had bought a lighter jacket from a charity shop for the summer.
The only bright spot was buying a 59p bottle of fizzy water to carry in my pocket, usually I forget that.

 
This huge building was working when I last passed this way 20 years ago.  The water, with a tidal reach of about 20 feet from what I could guess, was full of suitable working boats.  It is of course now flats!

Next door the building, called 'The Mill' was an interesting sight, also flats and possibly some other noisy use.  I did not venture round to look.

Camulodunum was built on the hill and here at the bottom near the quay stood a variety of aged houses.  The river has been in use for thousands of years and the Romans made good use of it at this point to bring in goods from Gaul and troops from wherever.  This house appears to have been quite substantial in itself and had another 'front' added on to the side facing the road at a point later in time. 

This is more typical Essex substantial house, one that began with a 'hall' and added things as they prospered over time.  I suspect it goes back to the 16th century at least.  

It looks like some rich man has benefited the poor by providing 'almshouses' here.

In the days before Thatcher, sorry the benefits system people often stuck their hands in their pockets to aid the poor, a system that does not exist today because the media through constant propaganda have convinced the nation at large that those on benefits are all scroungers, even if their legs have been blown off and an arrow sticks out of their head, they are fit to work!  Much more of that after Brexit!

The main building supplied all their needs although i suspect this is now accommodation of some sort and the whole place may no longer be for the poor but for the very rich!   It is important when wandering about to look up as above the road there are always signs from the distant past to see.

By now I was aware of how far I still had to travel and my muscles were informing me of my stupidity in a manner worthy of a medical student.  I ached and ahead of me lay 'East Hill' and like most hills this one went upwards.  Not the names, nothing fancy here, 'East Hill,' 'North Hill,' I suspect that is the military influence, still strong as until recently a huge army complex, now housing, lay in the middle of town.  I think I am right in saying the Para's still have places here though this time I saw no army vehicles whatever.

This building intrigued me, a small 'church' looking style of housing with unreadable words above the window.  However my bleary eyes made out the word 'Orphanage' in time, yet another example of church people doing the work the state now does, possibly better!  It was also used as a girls school and was paid for by a Mr A. Diss and cost him £700 to erect!

No charitable person appeared offering to carry me up this hill past the run down aged housing come shops that have stood there for hundreds of years.  They were not built to withstand such traffic rumbling past though the ones on the other side of the road were better built and mostly of a Georgian or Victorian time.

Foolishly I watched as a bus stopped at the bus stop and the driver remained there in an attempt to fit into his timetable.  Foolishly I ought to have whipped out the bus pass and got myself up the hill.  I didn't!  He drove on.
However on the other side sat a large once glorious building now refurbished and possibly an office complex featuring this fine bird high above the road making it obvious what the original company stood for, well not to me!   
In fact the area here is the 'Eagle Gate' one part of the towns defences.  The building was built by the 'Colchester Brewing Company' in 1888 indicating a flow of cash had arrived since 1828. 

Beer was beginning to lodge itself into my temperance mind as I ploughed on uphill.  The I noticed this Georgian (?) building squashed alongside two more showy offerings.

Above the door we see yet another image of Jesus tending his sheep.  The image of the shepherd not really working too well in this concrete jungle in which many live but the fact remains true.  This also must have been an offering towards improving or teaching people, probably young folks.  Do similar works exist today?

Almost at the top of the hill I found St James the Great standing ready to welcome me with open arms, which it didn't last time I passed as it was closed.  This church like so many others would open daily but folks do tend to wander in and pinch things so it was open this time for a small service in the side chapel.  A very nice chap at the entrance encouraged me to enter even though the service was almost finished and so I did and thankfully sat in a pew at the back and discovered my body preferred sitting to walking uphill.

As you might expect this cavernous church has stood here from around the 1200's and most likely a wooden Saxon building stood here before that.   I sat and listened at a distance unwilling to wander about as the wee service continued in the corner.

  
I was hesitant about photos also in this high church anglo-catholic church but I managed one or two.
These long poles carried by the verger during parades in such churches are often delicate artistic items.  However reading about the local church in the 1600's we see the verger/beadles often using their staffs to ensure unruly youths ((forced into church by law and uninterested in what was taking place) paid attention and kept the noise down.  Such churches often have graffiti on pillars as the crowd stood through the service and often found ways to keep themselves occupied.

 
 I left the friendly Beadle and made my way into the edge of town for lunch which comprised one £3:90 worth of Colchester No1 in the rather trendy 'Three Wise Monkeys' 'Tap House.'   Here I was served by an attractive friendly young woman who along with her friend helped lift me out of the soft clinging chairs used to trap folks into staying all night.  At that price right enough I could have bought food!

Staring out the pub window I cogitated on my return to the railway station.  Either through the crowded hot town (always a 'town' here not a 'city' as they wish to keep the dubious accolade of 'England's Oldest Town.'  I decided again my aches crying out to get the bus to wander through the castle grounds, a mistake by the way as it was downhill and I could hardly walk properly as I went down the slope.  Fool that I am!  

After a slog through the uninteresting boring hot streets full of decent houses I took what I considered a short cut and got to the station as quick as if I had gone the other way.  Here announcements informed me as I drank my £2:50 Americana coffee provided by the busy yet friendly lass in the 'Pumpkin' cafe on the platform, that the train was late, very late as it happens, because of signalling problems.  Surely I thought others would also be late until I realised this one came from a different starting point.  'Slow' is a word many of my teachers often used, one or two used other words.  However my carriage arrived as we see here and happily the crowd climbed aboard and I found myself sitting in a suitable seat to get the full benefit of the sun shining through my window, jolly!

 
I have to change trains as on the outward journey and was greatly cheered to find I had arrived seven minutes after my hourly train had departed!  Once again I sat in the sun watching the girls trains go by, once again near to the arrival of my train the repeated announcement that the '15:29 for Colchester Town is running late de to technical difficulties.'  This was running also in front of mine which meant my 15:35 was going to be late as indeed it was becoming the '15: sometime or other' when it arrived.  
I entertained myself by taking pictures of the rabbit in the distance chewing away at the abundance of vegetation on the remains of the one time Maldon line.  No trains here since Beeching and few before that.

The train speedily made it to home arriving at the time he ought to be departing.  I was home by 16:12 aching, hot and bothered, and desperate for food, rest and a massage from an attractive young woman.  One of these has not arrived.
I ache, I was daft in walking so far in the sun, my head is like a beetroot and as hot as an oven, and I am not planning going anywhere tomorrow, bar Tesco that is.  However the change in plans was enjoyable, I love the train!  I met good people, saw interesting things and got out of myself for a while, much needed at that.  So I am pleased but the pictures are snapshots as I was too weary to compose properly and just snapped things I liked.  I missed a great deal.  However it was a good day in the sun.