Another week, another walkabout and controversially this one comes to you from (whisper it) outside London! Horror.
In fact there's no mystery to it - I was out of town for a birthday party this weekend. But pace all those who would call me a skiver, we still managed to visit a couple of 'places of historical interest' en route to the pub so I'm going to write up our outing as a special Cambridgeshire walkabout.
The journey to Reach began at 9.45 as we all traipsed down to the bus station to catch the 12a at 10 o'clock. Bit of a painfully early start as we'd still been drinking Goldschläger at half 3, but the walk (and the typically arctic Cambridge temperatures) did us all good. We were meant to be ten on the bus but lost one of our number before the journey had even begun (apparently he forgot) - but after that the day went without mishaps. Speaking of the bus, top tip: if you're travelling in multiples then it's cheaper to buy a 'family ticket' of two returns rather than a day rider each.
There aren't any buses to Reach from Cambridge on a Sunday so we went via Burwell - it takes 50 minutes but it's a nice enough journey through green fields, interesting villages and the Newmarket racecourses. If you plan to do the same bear in mind they don't run often - there are only a couple of buses before lunchtime and then you've got a good 45-minute walk from Burwell to Reach. But it's well-worth an early start - the food at the pub we visited is *amazing*.
Fifty minutes later we bowled into Burwell. Now, we were only here because of a quirk of the Sunday bus timetable but it's actually an interesting place for a little wander before heading over to Reach. The 15th-century church is beautiful and well worth a visit (we popped in on the way back so I'll talk about this later) and if you head up the brilliantly-named Cuckolds Row (to the left-hand side of the bank) you come across a strange, sad little story from Burwell's past.
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| Photo by Hugo |
In 1727 the village was holding a puppet show in a local barn. The performance had proven so popular that more people had shown up than could be accommodated by the building so (either to control numbers or to prevent people entering without paying - accounts vary) the barn door was nailed shut for the duration of the performance. This decision had tragic consequences when a lantern was knocked over - the Parish Register describes what happened next:
"At about 9 o'clock on the evening of September 8th 1727, fire broke out in a barn, in which a great number of persons were met together to see a puppet show. In the barn were a great many loads of new light straw. The barn was thatched with straw which was very dry, and the inner roof was covered with old dry cobwebs, so that the fire like lightning flew around the barn in an instant. There was but one small door, which was close nailed up, and could not easily be broken down. When it was opened, the passage was so narrow and everybody so impatient to escape that the door was presently blocked up, and most of those that did escape, which was but very few, were forced to crawl over the bodies of those that lay in a heap by the door."
Some 76 villagers lost their lives that night and two more died of their injuries within two days. Almost two thirds of these casualties were children. A round plaque on the wall of Cuckolds Row marks where the barn stood, and in the village churchyard, a little way west of the door of St Mary's, a mass grave for the victims is marked by a stone on which is carved a heart surrounded by flames.
If you head on up Cuckolds Row you quickly end up in open fields. This is actually the best way to get to Reach - you can stomp along the road if you'd prefer but going cross-country is much more fun.
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| Castle Moat |
Just outside the village you can explore the remains of Burwell Castle. Not that there's much of it left these days - apparently the local fire brigade knocked down the last bit of wall in the 1930s when they were testing a new hosepipe! But you can still see where the moat was and some grassy mounds that were peasant cottages. The information board in the field says that these peasants were forced to destroy their homes to make way for the castle to be built. Bet they thanked their landlord for that. And after all that the castle was never even completed!
Burwell Castle dates from a period called the Anarchy. This was a 12th-century succession crisis that followed the death of Henry I. We almost had a reigning queen, Matilda, centuries before Elizabeth I, but Henry's daughter was passed over in favour of his nephew, Stephen.
Not all England's barons backed Stephen, however, and one of those who opposed him was Geoffrey de Mandeville, First Earl of Essex. Geoffrey was being a proper nuisance, setting up camp near Ely and attacking nearby towns such as Cambridge, so Stephen ordered for castles to be built around Geoffrey's base. One of these was Burwell.
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| Burwell Castle |
The moat had been dug but the stone keep was still only partly built when Geoffrey de Mandeville was mortally wounded in battle. With his revolt crushed there was no further need for these castles and Burwell was never finished.
The Anarchy ended in 1153 when Stephen signed a treaty agreeing to recognise Matilda's son Henry Curtmantle as his heir. Stephen died the following year and Henry II went on to found the Plantagenet dynasty.
Leaving the castle behind we walked across the fields. East Anglia is wonderfully flat wherever you go but here you really noticed it, stomping along head bowed against the wind towards the one high point in the landscape - the green ridge of Devil's Dyke.
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| Devil's Dyke |
The Dyke is an Anglo-Saxon earthwork, built in a 7.5 mile line - almost perfectly straight - through the Fens. From the base of the ditch running alongside it to the top of the ridge, parts of the dyke are over 30ft high. It is thought that it was built to defend the border between the kingdoms of Mercia and East Anglia - and since the ditch is on the west side, it was probably built by the East Anglians, in about the 5th or 6th century.
This dyke is part of a series of defensive earthworks in the area; there is also Fleam Dyke, Brent Ditch and Bran Ditch, and all of these served to defend borders, control trade and the movement of people. Devil's Dyke, however, is the largest and best-preserved of these. In fact, it is thought by archaeologists to be the finest of its kind in the whole country, and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
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| Looking along the Dyke |
As for the dyke's name, the 'Devil' part is post-medieval; in the 11th century, when William the Conqueror besieged Ely, it was known simply as 'Reach Dyke'. However, the current name comes from a local legend that the Devil turned up uninvited at a wedding in Reach - when the guests chased him away his tail dug a great groove in the countryside.
Walking along the Dyke (getting thoroughly blasted by the wind) we had a great view across the flat landscape - a wide expanse of fields. Having grown up further east, near Norwich, and then lived in Cambridge for almost five years, these bleak flatlands are very familiar to me. Large hills and mountains still startle me with their novelty! It's only a short walk before you can see the village of Reach ahead of you.
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| Photo by Vicky |
Reach itself is a lovely village, with a wide green and some pretty houses with a plaque commemorating a charter of King John granting the inhabitants the right to hold an annual fair. In our eagerness we had made very good time and arrived at our pub at 11.45, 15 minutes before it was due to open. But the village green had a convenient bench surrounding a tree, where we could sit and admire the new bluebells and primroses just starting to come out. And it was more than worth the wait.
Just off the village green is a pub called the Dyke's End - a white building set in a small garden with a faded painted sign. Inside it is light and airy - all cream-panelled walls and pale wood frames, low lighting, wooden floor and ceiling beams. And best of all - just inside the door, a roaring open fire. We were certainly glad to see that!
The Dyke's End is a freehouse and, not being much of a beer drinker, I consulted birthday boy Hugo and ale enthusiast Jo for their verdict. Their general opinion was that the local pale ale, called (appropriately enough) 'Devil's Dyke', was 'ok , but not as good as their bitter'. But apparently the bitter is particularly good - and Paul had high praise for the port here too.
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| The Dyke's End |
Something I can talk about a little more authoritatively though is the food - and here it really is exceptional. The Dyke's End has an amazing menu, very good value for money - on Sundays you can have three courses for just under £20 and two for just under £17.
The only downside to the menu is that there is quite a limited choice for veggies - the Sunday menu only has one non-meat option for starter and main. In fact, I've just had a look at their regular menu and there isn't much more choice there - for lunch a vegetarian has a choice of two starters and for dinner a choice of three, but still only two options for main at lunchtime and only one for dinner! This does seem rather stingy given that meat-eaters have a choice of eight or nine dishes.
But for omnivores, the food on offer is just beautiful. One of our party had watercress soup, thick and a really rich green. Several more had crab rarebit which came with a fried egg on top - serious food envy there, though my starter was great too. The duck terrine was satisfyingly coarse and flavoursome but it could have used some bread or melba toast (we had to ask for some - though admittedly the staff were very quick to provide a basket of different breads when we did ask).
Main course was Sunday roast, of course, and we had a choice of beef, lamb or pork. I went for pork, which came in thick slices, meltingly tender with apple sauce and gorgeous tomatoey gravy. The sides deserve special mention because they were amazing; enormous yorkshire puddings and roasties with a crunchy black pepper coating. The vegetables were unconventional but delicious - there were carrots and green beans, yes, but also sprouting broccoli, spinach and asparagus. It was beautiful. Those of my mates who had the beef - which looked lovely and pink - seemed very happy with their choice and the one guy sitting near me who had the lamb said it was fantastic.
But top of the bill has to be the puddings - there is a wide choice and they all looked amazing; we really were spoiled for choice. I ordered the lemon posset which came in a generous portion, and was silky smooth and light, with just the right blend of tart lemon and sweetness. I'd not had it before but I will always be on the lookout for it on future menus. Gorgeous stuff - like a creamy lemony crème brulee but without the caramelised top.
Some of my friends went for the chocolate pot which was a lot smaller, coming in tiny expresso cups. This would be an ideal option for those whose appetites don't stretch to three full-sized courses but still want to finish with something sweet. I was also impressed by their Baked Alaska , which came topped with a swirling peak of soft meringue, just browned on the top. Full marks all round.
The only negative point about our lunch was that the staff are if anything too efficient at clearing away your empty dishes, whisking away one plate and asking for your next order before you've had time to swallow. But in fairness it was a busy pub and I'm impressed they were able to serve us so quickly. Despite the busy kitchen our food came quickly and the whole table was served within a couple of minutes. And if they were a little over-eager to collect in the empties it wasn't because they wanted to rush us out the door - they were more than happy to let us sit and have another drink while our meal went down (not that we could have walked anywhere immediately after such a feast - we all felt like we wouldn't have to eat again for a month!).
Once we had recovered we made our way slowly back along the dyke to catch the last bus back from Burwell (another thing to bear in mind: they don't run late in the day on a Sunday - the last one back left at 4pm). As it happens we made it back 20 minutes early (heaven knows how, given the extra weight we were carrying - we must have been blown along by the wind) so we popped into St Mary's, a 15th-century rebuilding of a Norman church with an imposing tower. The 15th-century work is attributed to Master Mason Reginald Ely, the architect who worked on Kings College chapel.
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| St Christopher |
The church is built in 'perpendicular' style and is wonderfully airy and light inside. When the church was built, it would all have been brightly decorated, but now, post-Civil War, the walls are white and plain - except for one mural of St Christopher which is by the north door.
Next to this is a particularly nice Jacobean funerary monument, dedicated to Thomas Gerard and his wife - both depicted amidst 17th-century painted alabaster. Other nice historical features: the lower part if the rood screen is original 15th century, while if you look upwards there are beautiful carvings of stone angels and wooden saints, kings and animals. The rose window is Victorian and the stained glass 20th century - the original panes having been destroyed during the Civil War - but they are very attractive.
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| Jacobean monuments |
As we left the church to catch the last bus back to Cambridge this marked the end of our walkabout. It's strange to think that after living in Cambridge for nearly five years I never thought to visit Reach or thought about its historical quirks - but if you're ever in the area and at a loss for something to do (or fancy a truly superlative Sunday lunch) then it's well worth a visit.
Immediately before you are banks of houseboats joined by platforms covered with plants in an improvised garden, while in the distance this peaceful scene is overlooked by the neon glow of the City. After dark, the bridges and London landmarks are lit up in a stunning display - though this atmosphere also has a darker edge; even putting aside the area's destitute past, this was also a place of execution for pirates.
