Coach and Horses

As we needed to collect our prescriptions today from the village pharmacy, we decided to include a walk to the other end of the village. We walked to the Leper Stone and back, which we have measured in the past and know that it is a round trip, from our house, of two miles. Not exactly a long walk, but better than nothing and once Mr A's back has been sorted we hope to get back to walking a few miles every day.

I took a lot of pictures today, but decided on the Coach and Horses public house. It is a grade II listed building and was built in the sixteenth century, although it has been updated and restored more recently. It also does very good food and better still, caters for coeliacs.

I mentioned the Leper Stone above and this is the largest Sarsen Stone to be found in Essex. It is believed to have been left behind when the glaciers melted. It is also believed that food and drink were left here for the lepers from the nearby St Leonard's Hospital; the lepers were not allowed to pass this point. This is a very nice story, but when houses were built on the site more recently, the old bones, which were found, showed no signs of leprosy.

I also took some pictures of the old Toll House, but their story will have to wait for another day. The old Toll House, the Leper Stone and other photographs of the village are on Flickr if anyone is interested.