At Halstead with the Essex Nutter...

Well I am back again, and as you can see from the title I am with my friend Sue who lives in the market town of Halstead.  It is a lovely place with quite a bit of history.  One of the family names around here is Courtauld, I knew I recognized it though it took me a few moments and a question.  They are or were a country wide Textile Industry business, and the main reason I knew the name is that I worked for the company in the late 1980's in a small village called Mochdre, just down from Colwyn Bay in North Wales, they were great to work for, however this particular factory closed down a few years later.

Anyway back to Halstead, I took numours photographs of the old building and of the street views.  Halstead is built on four hills and is 45 minutes bus ride from Colchester, it has it's own charm which include pubs, old mills and churches that are not used anymore.  Enjoy the photos and explainations.....

 

This is The Bull Pub at the bottom of the High Street.

 

Moving my camera to the left we looked down a row of houses that were probably weaver cottages.

 

Walking down this lane you see this white building that used to be part of the Textile Mill, part of it now houses the council offices

 

Swinging further to the left and looking over the River Colne is what used to be a blacksmiths and is now a coffee shop.  The red brick building used to also be part of the Textile Mill.

 

Looking up the High Street, it was quite a walk for someone used to walking on the flats

 

St Andrews, this chuch sometimes holds concerts, its congregation is now sadly small.

 

Sue tells me this is the oldest building in the town, The White Hart. Of course it is a pub!

 

Another shot of the church, and a bit more of the building on the left side of the photo.  At the very corner of this building is a shop that has the name Hardy's.  It is a tailors shop.  Sue was delighted to find out that they were part of her family.

 

Another old shop, if you close in on the picture it will tell you when the place was built.

 

A view from the top of the High Street.

 

A small lane with pretty housing long side St Andrews, I thought the colours were  a great contrast.

 

In this final picture is the Cemetery House, that is now privately owned, it is at the main gates in the cemetery, a beautiful building.

 

The Cemetery is half Roman Catholic and half Church of England, it seems to be quite well kept, there are some very old Headstones to be seen and would make a wonderful history of who's who.

 

Enjoy the photos.

Last but not least is a picture of the lovely Jade with her dog Cotton curled up beside her.  Jade is making a beanie hat on a round loom. 

 

Since this photo was taken she has made two hats.

 

Make that three hats, she has a pink one now as well, Jade caught on very quickly with the loom knitting.  Also below I had added the blurry photo of me and Sue.  Told you she was small and dainty, a truly lovely person.