The village of Welford lies on the border of Northamptonshire and Leicestershire and the sign on the road welcoming travellers to Leicestershire proudly states that the county is “the heart of rural England”. Until we started cruising around on “Ellen” we knew nothing of either counties and both are really lovely. Whilst moored at the end of the arm we made the most of the sunshine and went for a lovely long walk in said ‘rural England’ – acres and acres of rolling farmland with the very young River Avon flowing through part of our route. The sun was a-shinin’, the ubiquitous lambs a-frolickin’, the buzzards a-soarin’ and it was truly glorious. We were very surprised to come across some birds called wheatears. The photo does not do the landscape justice.
Moments like this underline to us the importance of doing this sort of thing whilst the knees and hips are still in agreement! This week Sir Ian McKellen has been singing the praises of living one’s twilight years in a city environment because, unlike in the countryside, all necessary services are easily accessible. This is very true. More than once over the last few weeks we have walked 3 miles + in order to get a pint of milk and a paper!
The Wharf Inn, being a dog-friendly pub, we decided to go there for supper. I armed myself with a new, tasty, irresistible, hard to devour dog chew (not for me! For Lola!) and off we went. What I hadn’t planned for though was the fact that there would be other dogs in the pub – all of whom ‘Madam’ wanted to get at and all of whom wanted to get at her tasty chew!! Periodic chaos ensued! Not the most relaxed supper we’ve ever eaten!
Back at the junction John was disappointed to discover that our top-box was in need of some urgent repair. So, off it came for both clinical and cosmetic surgery. Judging by the assorted splashes of colour on the concrete bank, here is a popular spot for boaters to do a bit of D.I.Y.! This bit of rural England – now back in Northamptonshire – is also popular with wildlife. We’ve seen another red kite, numerous buzzards, lapwing, a woodpecker, chiff-chaff, yellowhammers, hares and …………….. last night I caught sight of a badger! At last! The old adage says, “Everything comes to he/she who waits” but we all know that nothing in life is that simple!
Sounds wonderful. Here in the town the Roe deer are back in the field, at least 40 this week all very nervous (and who can blame them when Moll is about).
ReplyDeleteParcel arrived safely today, thank you xxxxxx
40! Wow! We hardly ever see deer. The parcel - you might not be so positive when you see what it is but it was done with love and i tried very hard!! xxoo
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