Sadly, it had to be so. 

After the stunning countryside of the Peak District & the Derbyshire Dales - thatch cottages, stone manors, rolling hills, drystone walls... *sigh*... well we had a bit of a crash back to reality as we headed east through the flat swampy fens towards Colchester.

Now Colchester is not connected to JA at all, but our friend Jen lives there, so we went to visit.  It is however the oldest recorded town in England, so kind of old & significant.  We went into town and had tea & scones at cute little Poppy's teahouse, then wandered round the outside of the castle and through the remains of St Botolphs Priory - a 12th-Century church (where some charming local children were setting off multiple fart-bombs, another reality thump - we didn't have to deal with anything like that in Derbyshire). 

We also did a little shopping & then spent the evening watching movies & drinking homemade cocktails!