Taking home the bacon

Drove through Great Dunmow on the way home from the conference and took this picture by Doctor's Pond.

The town is well known for its four-yearly ritual of the "Flitch Trials", in which couples must convince a jury of six local bachelors and six local maidens that, for a year and a day, they have never wished themselves unwed. If successful the couple are paraded along the High Street and receive a flitch of bacon. The last flitch trials were held in the town in 2012 with the next scheduled for 2016. Fancy a go?

Pictured here is Doctor's Pond, named, perhaps, after Doctor Rayner who lived in the town in the 18th Century used to care for the pond and keep it stocked with fish.
Opposite the pond there is a house called Brick House, also known as Doctor's House, and two other doctors also lived there. In those days leeches were used in medicine to treat all sorts of problems. It's thought that the doctors used to keep their supply of leeches in the doctors pond.

Born in Dunmow, Lionel Lukin is famous for inventing the non-sinkable lifeboat. It is thought he tested models on the pond.

That's enough of that.