Finchingfield, Essex

A splendid day.   A lovely afternoon touring Essex villages in the Braintree district with Gareth, including a lingering pub lunch in the picturesque village of Finchingfield - spoilt only by the cars, but then, that's how we got there too.....  Anyway it was a lovely excursion in sunny, mild weather and neither of us have been here for many years. A popular Sunday afternoon destination with Mum and Dad when we were kids. 

Early evening I went with Charlie and Maddy to M&S food hall for a few pricey but tasty items before sharing a Chinese takeaway with Maddy. Back home at 9pm, and once QI XL was over at 11pm I only lasted another40 mins or so before heading off for an early night.

Finchingfield: 
There has been a settlement in Finchingfield since historical records of the area began. Also, there is archaeological evidence for a Roman villa 400 metres south-southwest of the village church. The place-name 'Finchingfield ' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Fincingefelda, a name that means 'the field of Finc or his people'.[2] The village was an official stop for horse-drawn coaches travelling from London to Norwich. ....It often is called the most beautiful village in England, a "picture-postcard" village and one of the most photographed, with a duck pond and village green surrounded by Georgian and medieval cottages. Wikipedia