Here we are in Thrapston where the NEN changes into the NEEN. We went through six locks today, three of them being manual guillotine locks. That means that you have to shift that great slab of metal up and down by turning a big silver wheel.

It’s hard work, especially the last couple of feet when the counterbalance effect is upset by the water that the lock gate displaces, but we were up for it.

The river is lovely here. There are extensive old gravel workings along the way that have filled up with water and have been converted into nature reserves, marinas, water parks, water ski areas, and even a carp hatchery, which I suspect is where all those koi we saw in Irthlingborough back yard ponds come from. From the boat there are views of lakes and water meadows.

Where the is higher ground you will get a farmhouse, church, or village.

After we moored up we walked into Thrapston for groceries. The spot where the county highways department used to park their snow plough was commandeered by the girl guides in the 1950s and turned into a mini park, with benches commemorating World War II…

… World War I…

… and the coronation of Elizabeth II.

There’s also one bench which is ominously blank, reserved perhaps for the coronation of King Charles III or nuclear annihilation. Both are dire to contemplate, but I think on balance I’d have to pick Chuck 3.

Probably.

Across the river from Thrapston is the village of Islip (which is pronounced EYES-LIP, I think, though there is also and Islip in Oxfordshire, and it could be that that one is EYES-LIP and this one is I-SLIP). The path there, in the traditional manner of English public right of way takes you across a pasture full of horses (or at least recent evidence of horses)…

… across a perfectly mown lawn…

… along a narrow passage between a fence and a hedge…

… before finally depositing you in a pub beer garden.

The village has some lovely old stone buildings…

… including this one which was home to Dame Mary Washington in the early 17th century.

There is a local legend that she was the great grandmother of George Washington, but in fact she was his great great great aunt.

The local church has a memorial to her as well as a great collection of gargoyles. Let’s look at the gargoyles.

Gargoyle with a new hairdo.

Gargoyle makes a friend.

Gargoyle tries to climb off building.

There’s more but my Internet is slow here, so that’s it for tonight.