IT may only be 12 miles long but there’s a lot to write about when it comes to one of the Colchester’s most secret places.

That’s the Roman River, which starts at the tidal estuary between East Donyland and Fingringhoe, and finishes in one of the many tiny streams at the old Earls Colne airfield.

Entitled Colchester’s Secret Roman River, this is Ken’s fourth book following the very popular Secret Stour, Stour Odyssey and The Colne: by Boat, Bike and Boot.

Ken says: “I was fortunate because the first book was very popular and then people liked the next one, so I just continued doing them.

“They’re a mixture of travelogue and local history but essentially full of all the fascinating facts, history and stories I’ve picked up over the years I’ve been exploring the area.”

Born in Danbury, Ken went to school in Braintree before studying in London.

After graduating he taught physics in several secondary schools around Colchester and Chelmsford after which he got a job at Essex University.

But it’s his love of the natural world that has underlined his career in teaching.

“We moved to Colchester in 1966 for work,” he adds, “and one of the reasons was the surrounding countryside. I’d been exploring years before I moved here and I love it mainly because it’s not too hilly and not too flat.

“I’ve always been a keen cyclist and walker, and had a keen interest in photography as well, so when a colleague at the university told me I should be writing all these facts down, I started thinking about the first book.”

Running upstream through Langenhoe and the lost parish of Berechurch, Birch Brook, to Copford, Marks Tey and Great Tey, Ken has been exploring the Roman River for more than 50 years.

“I’ll be honest,” he tells me, “at first I wasn’t sure there would be enough to fill a book. It is only 12 miles long after all but when I decided I was going to do it and re-visited the river in its entirety, exploring all the hidden nooks and crannies, there was lots to write about.”

Presented within a series of walks, arranged parish by parish as he journeys along the valley, there’s the old pre-Roman site of King Cunobelin, the hidden ford under the bridge at the appropriately named Heckfordbridge and the source of the river itself, an area of land that also feeds into the Colne and Blackwater rivers.

He says: “Perhaps the most interesting thing is Colchester itself wouldn’t even be where it is today if it wasn’t for the Roman River, because along with the Colne it provided the perfect defence and fertile land for the ancient British tribes who settled here.”

Colchester’s Secret Roman River, priced £10, will be available from Red Lion Books, High Street, Colchester, from December 2.

Ken will be at the book store on December 14 between 10am to 11am to talk about his adventures.