Some snaps of Sunny Colch, for no other reason than have content, will publish. I spent pretty much all of Friday walking around the half town, half city. I had a few errands that were time dependent and so had time to kill. Have time to kill, have camera, etc.
It helped that it was also Heritage Open Weekend. I’ll have a bit of that, I thought.
As well as dropping in on a freebie open tour of the Mercury Theatre, as posted elsewhere, I also managed to get a look behind the usually closed doors of the Baptist Church along Eld Lane.
My memories of ‘O’ Level RE - Grade B, I’ll have you know - are that I actually attended a baptism back in the day. It was a full-on thing: a grown adult being dunked in the water, John the Baptist style.
SPLASH. Gotcha.
The Sunny Colch Baptist Church was almost Art Deco with a stunning curvature up in the balcony.
I sniffed around a little, poking my nose where perhaps I shouldn’t. I was in search of their indoor Lido.
Where the fuck is it? It’s got to be here, right? What’s the point of a Baptist church without an inbuilt Lido? Although technically, a swimming pool that is indoors is a swimming pool, and not a Lido.
The very friendly guide tipped me off and showed me the magic markings on the centre stage where the water was underneath. It was almost like the trapdoor in a theatre.
Elsewhere around Sunny Colch I was hoping to take part in a Billy No Mates audio walk around the half town, half city. One of the popular apps that usually charges for a guided walk through your phone was offering up a freebie for the weekend.
If I’m ever going to do this then I’m going to do it during Heritage Open Weekend when it’s a freebie, right?
I tried to book the freebie the night before. Nothing. Ah ,no worries, betcha it only rolls over on the day of the actual freebie walk.
I tried once again on morning. No, nothing. Arse.
You picked the wrong person to dangle the carrot of a saving £3.99 for a freebie walk, mate.
I marched off to the Colchester tourist people, or whatever they are called these days. They were most charming and incredibly friendly. They were also a little saddened to hear I couldn’t access my freebie walk. Some emails were fired off.
Oh well I still had my camera. I still had time to kill. I did my own guided tour around the half town, half city. I was my own personal guide, taking in some of the locations that I’ve not really been to in around 35 years or so.
We’re talking around the edges of the old Roman wall and the Castle Road and Roman Road area. I spent a very interesting year living here. Some memories are best forgotten.
I walked past the old house. The frontage looked pretty much the same, although the small front garden has certainly been tarted up with a new garden wall. I lingered perhaps a little too long, peering into the windows. I noticed one was open. I looked a right stalker, and so decided to get a move on.
I did manage to walk around the back. Our own back garden, during that one year along Roman Road, actually backed onto the Roman wall. I stood in the back garden and had a quick shifty through. Someone was hanging out the washing.
Whoops. Now would be a good time to move on, Jase.
And so a decent day also walking around the town. My errands were all done in time to catch the train home. I had a camera full of snaps, some cheapo cheapo CDs, and half a dozen pants from Primarni.
LIVE the dream.
