We left Saffron Walden to the west passing the United Reform Church and it's almshouses and then onto Audley Park towards Audley End. We turned left just before Audley End towards the College of St Mark, passing between rows of whitewashed 18th Century cottages. It was then across undulating fields past Rosy Grove where we saw our first sign for the Harcamlow Way. As we dropped down towards Newport we came very close to the part of the path we would pick up later on in the year. However we turned away from tihs and headed towards Debden Water and the village of Debden. As we approached Thaxted we were amazed to find ourselves walking through avenues of wheels and tyres from farm machinary as well as all kinds of complete farm equipment such as ploughs and tractors. The tall spire of the parish church in Thaxted soon became visible to us and we reached it after a steady climb into the town
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