A Half Marathon in Five Hours – 20 June 2010

A very early start got us to Stansted Airport by 6.15am, to drop Janine off for a flight to Spain. Rather than return home, we decided to do a ten mile walk not far from the airport, starting in the attractive village of Radwinter.

The walk was in our 2002 edition of 'Country Walking', but we found a few changes had occurred in the countryside in the intervening eight years, as some of the tracks were so badly maintained, that they were impassible. So, as a result of this and some very inadequate instructions at two places which meant we lost our way a few times, our ten mile walk turned into at least a thirteen mile walk.


Half way round was the attractive village of Ashdon, where unfortunately, we were too early for the pub to be open. But the walking instructions intrigued us by describing the Cromwell Room in the pub, where it was discovered the walls were covered in drawings by Royalist prisoners held by Cromwell during the Civil War; and the blackboard outside tempted us to return, and reward ourselves after our long and challenging walk, with a Sunday Roast.

We would heartily recommend a Sunday Roast at the 400 year old Rose and Crown, and would say it was the best Sunday roast we have had at a pub in this country. The beef was still slightly pink, the gravy was home-made and not full of bisto – in fact “home cooked” sums up the whole meal, served with a dish of horse-radish sauce. In the huge side-dish of perfectly cooked veges were peas, fresh beans, cabbage, carrot, boiled potatoes as well as a side of cauliflower cheese. Alongside the roast beef was a freshly cooked yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and parsnip. A truly delicious dinner which we did justice to, before returning home in time for the NZ vs Italy Football Match at 3pm - an excellent end to our day.