Wednesday 23 August 2023 – Somewhere outside York.
This was the final of the four ‘English regions’ journeys that I’ve made in the past month. I’ve visited the South West, the South East, the North West and now I’m in the North East, though I’m not entirely sure where I am.
I’m attending a three day work training course at the Emergency Planning College. All I know is the facility is outside, and I think to the North, of York. I and 15 colleagues were picked up by a mini-bus from York station on Monday morning and driven 30 minutes into the countryside to the college. It’s not a secret location (anymore, it may have been during and immediately after WW2), but as we aren’t leaving the place till we go home so I never bothered to find it on the map. This is unusual admittedly, but I’ve been busy and still have more away days coming. To be quite honest my anticipation for a holiday in Ghent with friends next week is significantly higher than the anticipation I had for this work trip!
I won’t go into the detail on the learning part of the three days, it wasn’t secret government stuff, but it also wasn’t interesting enough to share. It was ‘work’ interesting and I learned a bit and enjoyed myself, especially the meals and the on-site bar. I ate a lot. The college buildings are part of a vast site, seemingly in the middle of nowhere and are comprised of an modern accommodation block and a lovely old manor house where we ate and a large modern school built out of sight on the back of the house.
The grounds were used during the last war to train fire wardens, supposedly, and there were a few buildings that were knocked down quite years ago that were used for that training. I found two old bunkers on a walk and guess they were used to store flammable or explosive material, the doors were 4 inches thick. They were the only two buildings left standing amongst the trees. I was (and still am) wondering if they led to secret tunnels under the forest to the manor house.
At the end of the first day I took a walk into the trees, I didn’t consult the loosely drawn map before I left so just stuck to clear paths; there is quite a section of forest to roam in, though I’m sure you could learn it all in a couple of walks, if you paid attention to the detail. The most serious risk for off-piste roaming would be twisting an ankle in an unseen rabbit hole, there are loads of them.
It was an enjoyable walk, only 30 minutes, but I was on my own with my thoughts and the pine forest which made up most of the environment, was old and twisted and verging on creepy. I wished I had my big camera as there were some good photo opportunities. I’m not sure I could have walked there in dusk, not that I’m superstitious or anything, it felt a touch Grimm. I followed one path that gradually narrowed down to a bracken blocked dead end and I could see how an unpleasant tale could be developed around the head high ferns if the light was appropriate. I’ve never seen confer trees so twisted and bent before, it adds to the eeriness.
The undergrowth was dense, there was no straying off the trails and into the trees as I usually do in Epping Forest, unlike Epping nothing much roams here, other than hundreds of rabbits and the occasional deer.
My favourite photo was the walkway to the accommodation block. I loved the simplicity of the lines and the contrasting colours.
The course finished mid-Wednesday afternoon and we were bussed to York Station for the journey back to London. The three hours to home seemed to take forever and I was very tired by the time I got in, and it was only 7pm.
I enjoyed the two nights away, the course was interesting, the food tasty and the in-house bar was cheaper than a London pub; the evenings spent chatting with colleagues I never usually speak to was probably the highlight.
Where is Phil now? 
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