Frugal Constable Country
Walking in Constable Country holds out the promise of standing where the painter John Constable stood, of seeing what inspired Constable’s “innovative, lyrical evocations of land, coast and sky.”
“By following in the footsteps of Constable you’ll have a better appreciation of the trees, rivers, sounds and light captured on canvas by one of the greatest British painters of all time,” says a National Trust walking guide.
Testing that promise makes for a frugal day trip from London.
Constable Country, about an hour’s train ride northeast of London, refers to the East Anglia countryside where Constable first painted. My goal was to walk a triangle of footpaths along which are sites that figure in as many as two dozen Constable paintings.
Armed with walking instructions and a map, available for $4 in the train station, I set off.
Walking from the train station to the triangle of Constable Country footpaths was the first challenge. I followed the instructions that promised a three-mile walk to Dedham, a wool town in the Middle Ages, where Constable attended grammar school in the late 18th century.
The footpaths took me across meadows where sheep and cattle grazed, through a church yard and cemetery, past a 16th century manor house and 15th century weavers cottages, along a quiet stream. Common sites in the Dedham Vale – and hints of Constable scenes to come.
Consulting the map nearby a cottage about half-way along, I met the owner, a woman of 60 or so, same as my age, who seemed accustomed to walkers crossing her land.
“Are you lost?” she asked.
“No,” I replied. “I seem to be following the map to now.”
“Well, they are tricky,” she said.
I showed her the map, pointing to where I hoped to go.
“Following the Essex Way, I see,” she said, seeming to agree that was the path to follow. She pointed the way from her cottage. Confirmed, I went on.
A moment later she drove off in a U.S. made Chrysler PT Cruiser.
I stopped for lunch in Dedham in the Essex Rose, an 11th century tea house. A ploughman’s lunch with cheddar cheese and ham came with three Tiptree chutneys. With a pot of tea, the fare was $15.90 – pricey.
Then I did get lost. I got on the wrong footpath leaving Dedham and walked for 20 minutes before realizing my mistake. But I saw more Constable-like countryside, if not the countryside I was looking for.
After backtracking, I found the right footpath to Flatford, surely the best opportunity to see what Constable saw and painted. According to the map, there are 10 spots in Flatford from which Constable worked.
There I’d find Willy Lott’s cottage, so prominent in Constable’s 1821 painting, “The Hay Wain.” And I’d find the mill, the river, and the locks so prominent in many others.
Flatford, it turns out, was busy. Tourists like me – who’d mostly arrived in cars or tour buses – looking for the spots where we could see what Constable saw. Most popular was the spot in front of Willy Lott’s cottage.
Standing on that spot – no kidding, a sign directs you where to stand – can you see what Constable saw? Can you recreate “The Hay Wain”?
Alas, no.
A sign nearby helps you understand why not: It catalogues “irreversible changes over 200 years” that alter the scene: While the cottage remains, the trees do not. The water level is higher in the mill stream. A long embankment and a sea wall built in 1949 obscure the view of the meadow. And, of course, the cute kid working the hay wagon is long gone.
Moreover, this was a bright, sunny day. No clouds. Hardly a Constable sky.
The experience, finally, was not a disappointment. Did I really expect to see what Constable saw? Only if Disney were in charge. So, explore Constable Country for what it is today. If you want to see what Constable saw, visit the galleries where his paintings hang: the V&A, the Tate Britain, and the National Gallery, all back in London and all free.
If you go:
Transportation: Take the National Express East Anglia train from Liverpool Street Station to Colchester, about 48 minutes. Connect in Colchester with the train to Ipswich. Get off at the first stop, Manningtree Rail Station. Roundtrip, $30.
Guidebooks: The Heritage House Map of Constable Country Walks is for sale in the Manningtree Rail Station for $4.
Currency: Prices quoted in U.S. dollars based on the rate of exchange in May 2015, roughly $1 equals 0.64 British pounds.
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