A Royal Hunting Ground: Eastwood, Essex

Follow a narrow wooded path at the end of my street, and you will come to a clearing. Here, you are met with a choice. Walk straight ahead over a stream and through the fields and you will reach Hockley, the village where my grandparents used to live. Go right, following the stream past the lake, and you will reach Southend, its busy roads indicating a clear route towards the town centre. Head left, and you’ll get lost in the woods which lead to Rayleigh, a small historic town...

Hadleigh Castle: Southend-on-Sea

Hadleigh Castle is in my hometown just outside Southend-on-Sea in Essex, and finding it so out of place in a bookshop nearly 100 miles from home was a nostalgic reminder of the walks around the castle I’ve been on while growing up. I bought the engraving and took it home to show my mum.