We had a few issues today, starting with a very unclear road closure and diversion that meant we took much longer to leave Chelmsford than we should have. We were then caught behind a big truck on a narrow road so stopped to find a cache instead. This was at a church and was one of over 1000 that seem to form a church based series here.

We arrived at Thaxted at a good time for morning tea . We had chosen this town because Wendy had a brochure about it that appealed to me. It described the town as a thriving town which moves with the time but also treats its heritage with respect. Its recorded history dates back to before the Doomsday book. Roman remains have been found around the town.

It was easy to get a park in the main street and we looked around for a café. The street had a variety of shops but also a sign for a café called Poppies. This proved to be a great place. It was run by the descendent of a tea planter in one of the old buildings with a low roof and bent beams. John had a traditional cream tea and I had a lemonade floater which was homemade lemonade with scoop of sorbet on the top. The young waitress was very friendly and efficient and the food was so nice that I did consider coming back for an early lunch. John made the waitress's day by saying it was even nicer than the cream tea he had at Harrod’s.

We then walked up the short street to the Parish Church of St John the Baptist . I still get surprised when the houses are built right to the side of the road so I was not sure at first if the path was private or public. The town was very rich in the 14th and 15th centuries and this is when the church was built over a period of 170 years. The spire is about 60m high and the church is also 60m long. There are a number of families buried under the church and it was sad to see the young ages of the children at their death. The font and organ were both impressive. The church had a number of leaflets about the town, postcards and bookmarks for sale, with an honesty box for the money.

We then looked at the outside of the thatched roof former Priests house and the Alm houses, which were both in the church grounds. The thatched house is now a private home but was also an alm house for many years as well. The Alm house building that now houses 3 couples was converted in 1975 from a block that had 16 rooms, each with 1 occupant.

We then walked along to the Windmill, although we knew it was only open inside on weekends. This mill was built in 1804 and worked for 100 years, producing flour. When it became uneconomic to work and could not be sold, it was left as a playground for the locals and later as a youth centre. It is now a rural museum and, with the sails reerected, is a town landmark. There were a lot of benches around the grounds and we could have picnicked here if we had been organised . Instead we had a chat to a local couple who were visiting here for the first time. They live about 20 miles away but said they usually holiday away so this year they were trying to see all the local attractions. We recommended Poppies for lunch.

The Guildhall was built by the Cutlers’ Guild in about 1390 at the height of the town’s prosperity. We couldn’t get inside but could have a good look at the outside. When the cutlery industry declined in the 1550’s, the building became the administrative centre for the area but then fell into disrepair. It was restored and became the local Grammar school, providing free education for first boys (from about 1714) and then also girls (from 1830) from age 8 to 14 until it closed in 1878. The teacher was paid 35 pound per year with a 30 shilling pen and ink allowance.

We finished by walking up part of Stoney Lane, which is at one side of the Guildhall, and contains lots of old houses and is overlooked by part of the church . The road is cobbled in the local stone. This stone was also on the sides of the church and on lots of other walls in the town. It looked familiar and then I realised it is the same stone as on the walls around Tyne Cot cemetery in Flanders. We later worked out it is flint.

We then drove to Finchingfield which is billed as one of the five prettiest villages in England. It had a village green, a duck pond, lots of thatched cottages and a stone church on the hill. It was easy to see how it earned its label. We just strolled around looking at the houses and shops and then watched a family escape from the green when a couple of geese became rather territorial.

We then went to the tourist information site in Coldchester to check on the exact site of one of the 3 heritage places we were planning to visit to find the opening hours had changed. The hours are longer but they were not open on Tuesday. So we had lunch at the Museum pub (over 300 years old) and replanned the day .

We went into one of the local museums, Hollytrees. This was built for a wealthy widow in 1718 for 2000 pound, but she died before it was completed and left it to her niece. When her niece's first husband died, she married a local attorney and JP who fortunately had a strong interest in history. He was given the local castle by his mother in law because of his interest in history and he spent many years having it restored. He also planted the holly.

The museum was interactive and very good for children as well as adults. There was a sedan chair, which I had heard of but never seen, and a voiceover of the chairman talking about the job. The dolls house was interesting because it had a large outside garden as well. There was a model of the house as it used to be with a 'map’ of the rooms. When groups of children visit they are allowed to open up the rooms.

There was a display of children’s toys through the ages with information of the life that children would have had in the past when they would have been working from a young age. There was also the history of ‘Twinkle twinkle little star" as it was written by the daughter of a local Minister.

We then looked around the shops before returning to Great Baddow via Coggeshall in case the historic house there was open. Outside we could see the new hours pasted over the original hours and it was definitely closed. We tried to peer inside but could see very little. So instead we found a couple of caches at local churches. One was very like a thatched barn but the other was a more traditional style. The last cache was in a spot from which three church spires could be seen. We then went back for a lovely roast duck dinner with summer pudding to follow.