Essex Aylesburys

The Aylesburys I have visited have so far been in easy to reach locations, situated around places that I go to on a regular basis, or have been quite cheap for me to get to. So for example, Aylesbury in Slough, I knew it was there, I had it on my list, however as I was there anyway, it was a simple find. Aylesbury in Burbage, pretty easy, within cycling distance of my dad’s flat in Swindon, so staying there 2 days enabled me to visit the various Aylesburys in that area.
These next two Aylesburys are a step up in the game of Aylesburys. These involved actually having to go to them purposefully as there is not really any reason why I would go there normally, although I did create an excuse for myself that, because I had a PAT testing machine waiting for me in Gillingham, Kent, I could visit these two on the way back, despite there out of the way nature.
The day was definitely one of change, rain one second, sunshine the next. I set off down the A41, stopped at Hemel Hempstead for some fuel, as it is marginally cheaper to buy it there than in Aylesbury and had a quick chat with the lady behind the counter about sleepy times of day. For some reason, everyone has a time of day where they suddenly feel really tired or sleepy, then half an hour later, they are ok again. Mine is round half past 4 in the afternoon, or midnight if I get past those two I am ok. So presumably it should also happen at 8 in the morning as this makes a 3 times a day cycle.
I made it round the M25, an achievement as I have never driven on a motorway, it wasn’t as scary as everyone makes out. I tried to avoid hogging the middle lane and leave lots of space between me and the car in front and always indicating when going between lanes, so I think I did ok. I made it to Gillingham at 1245 and met Ian, the retired electrician who was selling me his old PAT tester (which is silly as PAT stands for Portable appliance tester, so infact you are actually saying Portable appliance tester, tester, a bit like a Personal Identification Number, number). This machine allows you to test the electrical insulation of an appliance and is part of a series of tests to see if it is safe. Ian was a kind man, who gave me a cup of tea and we talked property prices, Princes Risborough and of course PATs.
Refreshed, I set off for the 1st Aylesbury of the afternoon in Basildon. A very difficult Aylesbury to reach as the roundabout that I was ready to turn right to get to it, was turned into a straight road so no opportunity to get to it. I got lost in a maze of roads none of which had names or were on my map. Eventually I saw a road named Durham Road which was on my map, so I was saved. I followed it around, squeezed through a really small gap with lots of vicious bollards and followed my map to Aylesbury Drive. A 1990s housing estate with lots of preplanted trees, standardised prefabricated red brick houses and faux individualism.



I grabbed some chicken sandwiches by some garages and set off to Braintree, the wrong way down the A130. Canvey Island was interesting but blurry and once back on the right side of the carriageway I left it far behind. Again Google.co.uk maps failed me, a road that was shown as linking into an estate was nowhere to be found. I drove round the maze of the next set of roads trying to get my way back to the roads listed on the map. Nothing, so I tried from the other side of the estate and arrived there instantly. How annoying.



Now it was raining buckets and very miserable. I faced a long drive back home round the M25. Luckily the journey back was uneventful and as I came down the hill to Aston Clinton the storm clouds gathered around Aylesbury, thick black rolling clouds that made day into night, sheet rain and long queues of traffic.
That night I went to my friend Dave’s house where we had pancakes as it was Shrove Tuesday and played Rapidough, a game where half the fun seems to be arguing who won each round, a good laugh.