Chelmer - Sandford Mill

A walk by the Chelmer yesterday revealed another part of its history as a navigational water route. This time it was Sandford Mill. Intermittent sun had bought out a butterfly on the nectar rich late ivy flowers, a large hornet was also feasting so I only took a photo of the butterfly. Once many years ago riding in Epping forest, I had stopped for a break, and all of a sudden a hornet appeared. My panic stricken horse just threw one almighty wobbly before dashing into a blackberry thicket to rid herself of it, never will I mess with hornets.

But to return to the canal, two brick bridges grace this part of the river, one by the lock-keepers house. This rather original wooden house replaces an earlier, probably Victorian house, that can be seen in the old picture with the horse drawn barge.

This is rather a lost part of Chelmsford, low-lying fields will hopefully never be built upon because of the flooding which can turn the fields by the Barnes pub into a lake.