It was also the first time I have been on public transport for some considerable time.
We set off by train for a walking tour of Constable Country on the Norfolk/Suffolk border.
Went there many many years ago. So got one of Greater Anglia's super duper new trains and it was very pleasant. Twelve carriages with relatively few people so we could sit anywhere.
"Oh look" I said to her who must be obeyed "They've got power points and USB charging points." Just then the conductor or whatever you call them nowadays came over the tannoy or whatever they call it nowadays.
"Please accept my apologies but the power points and charging points aren't working today. It is prohibited to put your feet on any seat."
Good word prohibited. I think he would probably have said "please don't put your feet on the seats" had it not been for going down the carriage and barking "feets off seats please" as he passed some young people. He was, well let's just say, a tad officious and obviously felt the word prohibited was necessary in this situation.
Why are railway stations nowhere near the place they serve? Manningtree is a good 15 minutes walk through industrial units from the centre of Manningtree. Cambridge is nowhere near the centre of Cambridge and Norwich is a good 10 to 15 minutes walk from the city centre.
But we were walking from Manningtree in the opposite direction to get to Flatford and then across Dedham Vale to the town of Dedham and then back again. It was a very pleasant walk. A cup of tea in the cold in the National Trust tea rooms at Flatford and we were off for the return journey. There were the sayings of John Constable on little wooden boards dotted around the walk. Seems he was a writer as well as a painter.
Back at Manningtree, we did walk into town and then back for the train home and almost 13 miles of perambulation.
I took rather a lot of photographs. There are just a few with this blog but you can view them all on my You Tube Channel at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws915jUmxj4
Please have a look - it will make me feel wanted!!!!!(smiley face). I have set-up a new playlist for England holiday locations. Could that mean psychologically lockdown really is coming to a conclusion?
I will also be turning the trip into a travelogue when I have the time.