Most people know Stansted as an airport, but the village of Stansted Mountfitchet, just to the west of the runways, is much older and more interesting. Its brick tower windmill, built in the late eighteenth century, is one of the best-preserved in Essex, and on the hill above the village, a Norman motte-and-bailey castle has been reconstructed with wooden palisades and buildings, giving a vivid impression of what a castle looked like soon after the Conquest.
The countryside around Stansted is classic north Essex: gently rolling farmland, hedgerows, small woods and villages with timber-framed houses, thatched cottages and flint churches. Saffron Walden, a few miles to the north, is a beautiful old market town, named for the saffron crocus once grown in the area, with a turf maze on the common and the great Jacobean house of Audley End nearby.
The riding is pleasant and relaxed. The B-roads and lanes wind through the villages and across the farmland, with gentle hills, bends and good views. Surfaces vary, and some lanes are narrow. Traffic can be heavy around the airport and on the M11, but the minor roads are quiet. Watch for farm traffic, especially at harvest time.
Fuel and food are available in Stansted Mountfitchet and the surrounding towns. As a start and finish, it is convenient, with easy access to the M11 and the airport. The planes roaring overhead are a reminder of the modern world, but the lanes around the village feel timeless.