16th century timber-framed

Back to oysterland.

I hadn't been back to West Mersea since I left last July. There's no excuse.

I was there to see a rather charming little cottage, the emphasis being on little, with the view to renting.

I had been yearning to return to Mersea, to finally relax away from the noise and pettiness of my current abode. Yet rented accommodations are few and far between on that marine inclined Isle.

I always enjoy that half hour country bus ride from Colchester to West Mersea. There are rustic farms and buildings along the way, interspersed with golden fields of rapeseed. The causeway between the mainland and the island always fascinates, whether tide bound with calling gulls, or revealing mud canyons at low tide. 

I lunched on seafood (fish) chowder at the Art Cafe and delighted in having a small.pot of tea with actual tealeaves and a tea strainer. Mersea is a different world, taking me back to a youth sans teabags, sans microwaves, sans plastic waste and global warming.

The Art Cafe is so called as it sports artworks by local artists, on the walls. It also doubles as a delicatessen for invading summer tourists, selling items as diverse as Tiptree jams and Penang (Malaysia) sweet chilli sauce (,Linghams). Two doors down, the same owner presides over the local art gallery proper, selling more local artworks and books by authors and photographers of the beauty of the island, and its maritime ways.

Whereas I could have walked to my destination via the footpath network, I chose, instead, to take the coastal route to feel the sea breeze, listen to ropes making music against yacht masts, hear the cry of gulls and smell the scent of the sea.

The cottage was all I thought it would be from looking at the images online. It begged to be called Rose Cottage or something romantically similar, such was its other worldly charm with exposed beams and antique ambiance. The cottage comes (tastefully) fully furnished and with a small rear garden sprouting a blue table and chair set for balmy G & T evenings or locally caught fish lunches.

Yes, I had fallen in love with the Late 16th century timber-framed building. It only remains to be seen whether the building reciprocates.