Happy to cut and paste a load of words from that free encyclopedia everyone uses:
"Fobbing is a small village in Thurrock, Essex, England and one of Thurrock's traditional parishes. It is located between Basildon and Corringham, and is also close to Stanford-le-Hope. Fobbing is one of seven conservation areas in Thurrock.
"The now quiet village is renowned for its history, which includes being one of the main villages involved with the Peasants' Revolt."
(as you can see from the village sign!)
"On 30 May 1381, the commissioner John Bampton summoned the Fobbing villagers, as well as villagers from Corringham and Stanford, to Brentwood to answer as to why they had not paid tax. The villagers told Bampton that they would give him nothing. Bampton then moved to arrest the villagers. A riot ensued in which the villagers attempted to kill Bampton. Bampton managed to escape to London. Sir Robert Belknap was sent to investigate the incident and to punish the offenders. On 2 June, he was attacked. By this time the violent discontent had spread, and the counties of Essex and Kent were in full revolt. Soon people moved on London in an armed uprising.
"One of the major features of the village is Saint Michael's Church. It is renowned for its historic association with the smuggling trade. Once upon a time the church was near the waterfront of Fobbing Harbour. Smugglers sailed up Fobbing Creek guided by the distinctive church tower but after the great flood of 1 February 1953, the creek and harbour were sealed up by a dyke and drained. Underneath the church are many tunnels which were used by the smugglers in the fourteenth century."
There's another walking trail around here, the Thames Estuary Path, but I decided not to go for it because the tracks look pretty muddy, and one of them seemed to go through a junk yard with a load of people standing around caravans. It was Sunday afternoon and not particularly busy on the roads, so I stuck to them.
This is a building that my son Jay painted a couple of years ago when he was on his compulsory NCS scheme, which makes every 16 year old experience the joy of pointless community service!
By now I'd walked into Corringham old town and the back of East Thurrock FC. A guy who used to cover sport on my local radio station used to pointlessly cover them every week, despite being asked to cover either Brentwood or Billericay instead. I think this is the least picturesque of the three.
The sign on the pub says: "To commemorate the villagers of Fobbing who, in the year 1381, stood for the freedom of the English people against oppression. Oh what avail the plough and sail, or life, or land, if freedom fail". That last part is a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wasn't English, and who lived 500 years after these events, but yeah someone somewhere must have thought it appropriate.
3.03 miles in 1 hr 0 min 25 sec (ave 3.01mph)
Calories burned 499; steps taken 6,740; elevation 124 ft
6 deg C, cloudy
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