Wadenhoe is so cute that even the phone box is a Grade II listed structure.

This particular model of red telephone box was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, whose other contributions to human culture include Cambridge University Library and an album cover for Pink Floyd. Unfortunately somebody got hold of the cover of Animals and actually built the building from it beside the Thames. Now nobody knows what to do with it.

Did I mention that Wadenhoe is cute. Honey colored limestone, thatched roofs…

…and random equestrians.

With all those thatched cottages, someone had to be really creative to come up with this name.

This is said to be the first ever village post office.

There’s a two hundred year old dovecote.

You can go inside…

… and see the remains of the nest boxes…

… and the amazing rotating ladder thingy called a “potence” which lets you collect eggs and baby pigeons to eat.

Sadly, pigeons are not allowed in there any more, which seems a waste. You just can’t get good pigeon guano any more, let alone pickled squab.

There’s a lovely hilltop church…

… with skull carvings on in the graveyard.

I never could resist a good skull.

Butterflies flutter among the gravestones.

Inside there is a bit of pagan iconography. The leafy arch supporters are images of “The Green Man” an old fertility god often found in Christian churches.

The otherwise detailed church guide (price one pound) makes no mention of them.

We are moored up by a pub beer garden…

… and had a lovely meal this evening with Robin and Maureen from Hazel, the boat moored next to us. Robin is a retired naval officer, so I shall be really embarrassed if I ram their boat in the morning trying to get to the water point.