While much of the country is to this day threatened by pestilential waterfowl, one village has been living in an uneasy truce with them since the 7th century. Weedon Bec was suffering from a plague of geese, eating all the crops in the fields. Q: Who you gonna call? A: Geesebusters! That was pretty funny in the 7th century, trust me. Actually they called in Saint Werburgh, another one of those Saxon princesses turned nun who littered the dark ages…
On our way out of Northampton this morning we passed the so called “National Lift Tower”. It is in fact the traditional home of the wizards of Northampton. Built in 1606 by the Earl of Northampton, Henry Howard, it has successfully defended Northampton against sorcerous attack for four centuries. It is constructed entirely of magic and human skulls. Only when Howard’s invisibility spell began to wear off in the 1970s did the need for a cover story arise, so Her…
There are three tales told by Delapre (pron Duh-la-PREY) Abbey… … the nuns who lived there for four hundred years, the two families who lived there for a couple of hundred years each, and the great battle fought in the grounds. Let’s start with the battle of Northampton, which was way back in the first season of the Wars of the Roses. Here we see a recreation of the battle in a format that is a cross between Terry Gilliam…
Weed is a controversial subject on the waterways of Britain. I’m not talking about the stuff you smoke to get high, I’m talking about the green slimy stuff that grows in water and wraps itself around your propellor. That’s the view from our mooring tonight. The river widens into a small lake, and it is full of weed. The recent warn sunny days have been ideal for weed growth. There is quite a bit of it in the upper reaches…
Today we dropped of Jo and Jeff, then cruised to Wellingborough to meet up with my brother and his wife for lunch. After lunch the rest of the day was given over to boring stuff like laundry and grocery shopping. Since there is nothing very exciting to talk about, here are some bird pictures from the past few days. Immature black headed gull. Goldfinch Battle swans. My sister-in-law Carol was feeding them. Blackbird Pied wagtail Dunnock
In the 1990s they were doing some restoration work on the church in Woodford, and they found a pickle jar in the roof. The pickle jar contained a message from the Reverend Christopher Smyth, who was rector the last time the church was restored in the 1860s. This record has been deposited with the hope and conviction that it may be of interest to those who shall in ages perhaps come to repair the roof of the chancel. It may…
Oundle (pron OW-ndul as if you’ve stubbed your toe) has had a market in the same spot since 972. That is not a misprint, I did not leave out the one. The current incarnation is a farmers’ market that happens once a month, but we happened to be in town on the right day. After foraging for food, we set out for the Wadenhoe. We moored up by the King’s Head again, arriving just before the lunchtime rush. I went…
Howard and I have been friends since we were twelve years old. We were both spear carriers in the school plays, but he went a bit further with the acting stuff than I did. He’s currently with a touring production of The Midnight Gang, an adaptation of a children’s book by David Walliams. He plays both the hunchbacked hospital porter… … and the evil matron. Today the fates brought us together in Oundle, where were are moored and Howard was…
It’s a lovely day, let’s go for a walk. No, not you. The crops are ripening. The bugs and butterflies are pollinating the flowers… … and the damselflies are having incredibly complicated damselfly sex. In some species, the pair will remain in this wheel position for only a minute. Others, however, may stay in formation for several hours, while the male tries to use spoonlike structures on his penis to scoop out any sperm from other males the female may…
Ah, the good old days of railway travel. Passengers should please refrain from passing water whilst the train is standing in the station here at Crewe. For railway workers underneath will get it in their hair and teeth and they don’t like it any more than you. It’s a real relief to be back on the Nene after the excitement of Salters Lode and the slog though the Middle Level Weed Farm. It’s a nice, wide, slow moving river, and…