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which are a reminder of the lucrative mediaeval wool
trade. Castles, railways and WWII airfields are all
features of this slip of North Essex and there are some
surprising discoveries too – one timeless village,
where a great oak recorded in the Domesday Book
still stands, took the whole country by surprise in the
1960s when the villagers elected a communist
councillor! And did you know that Britain once lead
the way in the production of mechanical elephants?
No, neither did I but the main player in the
mechanical elephant market was W. Hunwicks and
they were out here among these green fields, these
ancient villages. Isn’t Britain marvellous?
This area of Essex hosted several World War Two
Airfields, both RAF and American. The one at Earl’s
Colne was among the first to host the famous ten-man
Flying Fortress Memphis Belle which flew 25
missions over Europe and not only lived to tell the
tale but returned home intact after the war to the
United States. Later Earls Colne was an RAF base
and one pilot who flew from here over the green
fields and the viaduct you’ll see today was Kenneth
Wolstenholme. If his name isn’t familiar his voice
should be – after the war he became a BBC football
commentator and it was he who, during the 1966
World Cup Final, uttered the immortal words
‘They think it’s all over…’.
At the end of an entertaining morning our destination
for lunch today is a village that is always a contender
(continued on next page)
Finchingfield