We have decided that “brindley” is an adjective, as in, “This bit of canal is quite brindley.” James Brindley built the first canals of the industrial revolution, and he followed contour lines as much as possible to minimize the use of locks and spread the advantages of canal transport far and wide. It follows that brindle must be a verb meaning to wander apparently aimlessly here and there with very little visible concern for reaching your ultimate goal. The North…
Our new alternator securely mounted, we set off again on the North Oxford Canal, past the outskirts of Rugby. We stopped just north of town, hoping to pick up some groceries at Newbold, but the one grocery store is being remodeled, so we ended up going to the local pub for dinner. There was a piano in the Gents, lurking behind the baby changing table. Do the locals in Newbold enjoy a good sing-song while relieving themselves? Is there a…
What is the point of filming Tales of the City in San Francisco if you use the WRONG SAFEWAY? Sorry but it has to be said. It should have been Marina Safeway, not the one on Market Street. Nobody ever tried to get a date in the Market Street Safeway. The Marina Dateway on the other hand, well, people have got married there because that was where they met. It must have been a bit strange for the people trying…
There is not much to Hillmorton. A few pubs, a strip mall, the occasional chip shop, an old folks home… Most of it is suburban sprawl from the second half of the 20th century. The church, however, is a fine example of low bid vernacular. You start with a 13th century building built on the edge of a swamp, and then whenever bits fall down, you get the lowest bidder to do the repairs. The result after eight hundred years…
We’ve been having electrical problems for the past few days. First the alternator bracket broke, and when that was fixed the alternator broke. We were reduced to just the solar panel for the fridge, lighting, computers, phones, and Paula’s CPAP. That meant being pretty frugal. Then the solar panel stopped working, so we did some desperate rewiring to charge the leisure batteries from the little alternator that charges the starter battery. That meant being even more frugal. Today we made…
Last night we attended an event at the Leamington Museum, with live music, gin and tonic (we skipped the gin) and the museum curators talking about the collection. Guess what? We are not the only people who play Ugly Baby Jesus! We spent a while chatting to one of the staff who had her BA and MA from Birmingham University, and the art students there play UBJ. She also told us about Renaissance Elbow, and we explained First Cows of…
I went for a walk this morning along the River Leam (pron: LEM) and one of the many River Avons to within sight of Warwick Castle. Though the area is quite built up, development has avoided the riverbank for fear of flooding, so for much of the way you can pretend to be deep in the country. There was constant birdsong. I had to look up this SBB. It’s a juvenile European Robin. I saw occasional butterflies, too. This is…
Howard picked us up from Warwick last night and drove us to his home in Rugby, about half an hour away, for dinner with him and his husband Gord. Also present were three dogs, one other roommate, and an escaped tarantula. Probably. Nobody knows exactly where in the house the tarantula is hiding. It’s a sort of invisible conversation piece. Now I can’t stop thinking about vintage James Bond movies. Gord will soon be starting a new job working with…
Today we visited the Warwick Market Hall Museum. You’re never quite sure what you are going to find in a local museum in England. Perhaps it will be a fez… … a stuffed bear… … or even a battle swan. There will usually be a hoard of Roman coins. Thank you whoever invented the metal detector. Sometimes there will be Saxon jewelry… … teddy bears… … a chance to dress up… … or a beehive. The Warwick museum has lots…
This tomb in the Beauchamp (pron: BEACH-um) Chapel in the Church of St Mary in Warwick is usually referred to as the tomb of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and favorite of Elizabeth I. It is really more the tomb of Lettice Knollys, his wife. The tomb was created for the two of them at her request, and she outlived Dudley by 46 years. It was a second marriage for both of them. Lettice was first married at the age…