Windmillers athwart Essex

Ten miles into Thursday’s outing, we pitched up on Maldon High Street seeking refreshment and, in particular, a guided tour of the Moot Hall. The six hundred year old brick tower has at various times been a mansion house, town hall, courthouse, police station and town jail, and boasts a fine view over Maldon and beyond to the Blackwater Estuary.

An hour or so earlier, ten Windmillers¹ had set off from The Rayleigh Arms, Terling, following Martin’s route through some of the prettiest lanes in Essex. And it was on the approach to Maldon that we chanced upon the intriguingly named Cut A Thwart Lane.

In old English athwart meant crosswise, as in “Cutting athwart the bow,” meaning one vessel was passing directly in front of another. So Cut A Thwart Lane could well refer to the lane being a shortcut between Maldon and Woodham Walter. Interestingly, Cambridge, Bedford, Chelmsford and many other English towns can all boast a Cut Throat Lane, a likely corruption of Cut Athwart Lane.

Leaving Maldon, we followed the Chelmer & Blackwater Canal to Heybridge Basin before turning inland and returning to Terling via Great Totham, Wickham Bishops and Hatfield Peverel.

Back at the pub, Deborah bought us all a beer and endured a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday.

Thank you, Martin, for planning the route and thanks again, Deborah, for the beers.

1. Thursday’s team roster was: Brian, Deborah, Graham, Howard, Jeremy, Keith, Ken, Martin, Ric and Simon ↩︎