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It’s only 12 miles long, but this little river slices through a cross section of British history. A poet (born 1902, Peggy to some) made it the subject of a poem. It flows southeast, and I start my journey in the village a mile downstream from where it rises. From there, I head three miles south to a hamlet and a rectory built in 1902. Famously, it became the home of a playwright with whom I have a special affinity. As a young amateur thesp, I played the lead male role in one of his plays (characters include Lexy).
Homage duly paid, I head back towards the little river, but not before flitting three miles northeast of the rectory for a quick look at a stately home dating from the 16th century. Among its past residents is a novelist, whose works include Zanoni.
I could spend all day here, but I want to have a bath — beneath a motorway. Let me explain: this part of Britain is Roman villa central, and preserved in a vault beneath a motorway is a bathhouse that is evidence of this. It’s only three miles east-southeast of the playwright’s home, and on the banks of the little river, so I am soon there.
My final stop is a mile southeast — a 520yd, 40-arch viaduct (5m bricks, since you ask) built for the GNR. It crosses roads and, of course, the little river. Pure Victorian genius. What a day: writers, breathtaking engineering and fine architecture. But the highlight is something far more precious. It’s the little river: a chalk stream (“Hi yih, yippity-yap, merrily I flow”) whose brief journey ends four miles away in a county town.
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Last week’s prize
The answers are Narborough and Wolferton. Dylan Evans of Colwyn Bay wins a luxurious four-night trip for two to Tenerife, as a guest of Adrian Hoteles and Monarch.