A frantic start to the day, trying to get to Colchester in time for a walking tour we had booked. S went to get the hire car but then had to come back because Hertz wanted to see his passport. Ten minutes after he left again, he phoned to say he’d taken my passport by mistake and could I come out and meet him with his. Then followed 90 minutes of racing across the countryside to get to our tour on time. I did point out to him that the circumstances of his mistake in taking the wrong passport exactly mirrored my drug error of earlier in the week but strangely he wasn’t interested in pursuing this fruitful topic of conversation. Colchester was the first British Roman city, founded around AD40ish by Claudius.
We met this guy at the Colchester castle museum. Photo credits to S (but he hasn’t done a great job TBH, both our smiles are a bit fixed after it took him a long time to take the picture – and what’s the story with my hair?? I think it’s the humidity). If he reminds you of Asterix and friends it’s no surprise as he’s a Briton that dates from around the same time. Also I’d be a bit sheepish if I was him, as while he and his chums were living in their mud huts and eating off earthenware pottery, the Romans must have been enormously impressive with their giant temples, theatres, chariot racing, a civilized assortment of gods, central heating etcetera. In fact you’d have to say nothing for the following two thousand years really matched up. I’ve certainly lived in houses in NZ that direly needed some of that central heating technology. Of course, they needed quite a few slaves to keep up their lifestyle, which doesn’t quite fit with our modern sensibilities, and it did lead to trouble with the locals a few years after they arrived when Boadicea (as I’m sure it was spelled when I was at school but now apparently Boudicca, pronounced Boo-dika) decided to rebel. She’s a bit of a local hero here in Britain even though she did slaughter thousands during the uprisings she led. Oh well, not enough strong female figures in history so we’ll take what we can get. After the Romans left, a bunch of other people came and did some sequential invading and things went dark.
Finally, the Normans arrived to save the day (along with an ancestor of mine, Pierre de Maule, a close bud of William’s I’m sure), and they built an enormous castle over the top of the ruined Roman temple.
Here is some graffiti in the castle stairwell dating back to those times. There’s a Knight with rather long arms, and another one on a horse.
We’d had enough of Colchester by then so decided to pop into Dedham as it was nearby. Dedham Vale is officially recognized as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is known as Constable country because the painter John Constable did much of his paintings here. He went to the local Grammar school apparently, but instead of going scrumping, playing marbles, or having conker fights, he was out there appreciating the natural beauty. He really should have become a policeman, because that would have had much more comic potential – but, alas, it was not to be. After all this build up, we were willing to be pleased with the surrounding countryside, but after milling around a giant cow paddock with dozens of others for half an hour or so, we gave up and went home. It’s no wonder the Brits are so impressed with NZ.
