The Traveller

The day was overcast, but warm, as I greeted the burgundy-gloved traveller to Colchester, at Colchester Town (railway) Station.

You know, explaining the history of your hometown to a visitor really makes you think. I have to say it, but I'm proud of my little town for, despite its current size, it holds many firsts in the history of this land.

We sauntered a few steps to the ruins of St. Botolphs Priory, one of the first Augustinian Priories in England (1100, constructed from Norman brick and re-used Roman stone). I'll explain that Roman connection in a moment.

The intrepid traveller handed me her (far from lightweight) brown bag, as she delved inside to grasp a contraption she uses to prevent shake while taking video. Like a robot the small electro/mechanical arm sprang to life with her handphone clasped to its blossom, if indeed such apparatuses have blossoms. The filming began.

I confess that it was my first time being in the company of such an earnest and serious videographer. I stepped back and watched her narrate the Priory's history, in Chinese, for her growing audience of tens of thousands avid Chinese viewers. When she had told me of her Wechat patrons my jaw dropped in surprise, and a little envy.

We stepped out of Priory Street and into Queen Street, where filming continued, and up to what is now the Natural History Museum (originally constructed as a church between 1375 and 1550), across the end of Colchester’s High Street and into Castle Park (so named because it shelters Colchester Castle).

Castle Park holds many memories for me. One is the weekday trudge through the park as a shortcut between my school (St. Helena Secondary Modern) to the bus park, then situated at the top of East Hill, and rummaging through the magazine stand at the bus park, to see if there were any new Marvel or DC comics. Other memories involve friends and lovers, charity ‘crisp eating’ contests and so on and so forth (over fifty plus plus years).

And so into the (Norman) Castle (circa 1076, comprised of plundered Roman stone) we went…Thankfully my ‘Colchester Castle Pass’ was still valid (one year).

[Briton, and therefore Colchester too, has been invaded since time immemorial (well, for over 10,000 years) . First there were those who became the ancient Britons (Iceni, Trinovantes, Silures, Cornovii, Selgovae, etc) then the Romans (43 - 410 ) who created Britain’s first city in Colchester (Camulodunum or Colonia Claudia Victricensis), and Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians and Danes (Vikings/Norsemen/Northmen) and then northern vikings (from Normandy, France) who became known as the Normans (1066 for 300 years). Britain had an Emperor (Cladius), Anglo-Saxon ‘kings’, Viking kings, then various French and German kings and queens up until now, with a queen of German descent and a consort (now deceased) from Corfu (Greece).]

Much of the above history can be found in Colchester Castle, also the English Civil War (1642 – 1651, which destroyed St. Botolph’s Priory in 1648), the remnants of that war are still visible over Colchester town.

With much videoing taking place in the park and castle we, eventually, adjourned to stroll the High Street up to Wagamama (opened in Colchester, 2018), which was founded by Alan Yau (1992), in London, and which presents an interesting array of ‘fusion’ asian/Japanese based cuisine, but more importantly a substantial menu incorporating both vegan and vegetarian alternatives. I had, incidentally, been waiting to go there since my arrival back in England, way back in June 2021, but there had always been long queues outside awaiting entry. This day we were lunching later, hence our ability to grab a bench.

Then we were out walking streets dating back to 1277, on the way to Colchester Town station (1866). Much history was left, as Colchester has so much, for another time, perhaps. I grabbed some ‘char sui buns’ for dinner at May May Oriental Supermarket and walked pensively back to my current lodgings and hung up my metaphorical tour-guide hat for another day, which may, or may not, come.