A Winter Wonderland

On Sunday, James and I took the train to Sawbridgworth in order to walk along the River Stort. We had wanted a couple of days away together to head for somewhere on a canal or inland waterway. So, partly inspired by the recent adventures up the Lee and Stort of Herbie, Northern Pride and Halfie, we looked into walks in the area and finding a B&B. After a lot of searching on the net, I came across Grange Guest House in Bishop's Stortford, just minutes from the river, and highly recommended in lots of reviews.

Our walk took us North, following the river. It was incredibly beautiful, everything blanketed under a layer of thick snow. It took us two and a half hours to walk the 3 miles to Bishop's Stortford and although it was hard work in the thick snow, we really enjoyed it.

Once in the town itself we quickly located the B&B and were welcomed by its owners Paulette and Peter. Paulette showed us to our beautifully decorated, ensuite attic room, and then offered us tea to warm up. We drank it in the cosy living room, complete with open fire, and met the two friendly cats. One of the cats only had three legs! But she in particular wanted to make friends!

After we'd finished our tea we headed in to the town to explore. It is a pretty little town, although we didn't get very far in the cold and ended up reading in a bookshop. We ate dinner at a Pizza Express housed in a fantastic Elizabethan pub, before heading back to the Guest House. We slept very well, although we were not used to being so warm! We would really recommend it - such a welcoming place, but we still felt like we had privacy.

In the morning we were served a delicious cooked breakfast, and the packed up and headed out. We had planned another walk along another stretch of the Stort, but when we found that there were no trains from Bishop's Stortford, we decided to head back to Cambridge immediately. It took us four hours in the end - we caught a bus to Stansted, where we were able to catch a train to Cambridge.