Linford Manor to north of Solomon’s Bridge 65
As I started my exercises Tilly came to supervise. I’m not doing it correctly apparently, she doesn’t understand how I’m not as flexible as she is. She soon lost interest and preferred looking out of the window. As I carried on lifting my bad leg into the air a chap walked past the window, soon followed by a lady who stopped right in front of me. She bent down and said ‘Has Daddy left you behind?’ She stood up with a small dog in her arms, the dog the only one aware of me looking out at them.
After breakfast we went for a little bit of a walk. Last time we moored here I think the park was still being worked on so I wanted to see how the interconnected ponds looked now, reinstated to how they had been designed many moons ago.
A circular pond tumbles down into a second one towards the canal, making a pretty picture with the Alms Houses behind.
We had a look at the information boards. Linforde is mentioned in the Doomsday Book and it’s thought there was first a settlement here in the C10th. In the C16th Richard Napier lived here, he was a renowned physician who based his treatments and their timings on astrological readings. I wanted to know what ‘pigeon slippers’ were, well they were just that slippers made from pigeons, one of Napiers treatments! More here on Richard Napiers treatments. In 1800 the canal cut right through the pastoral landscape of the manor which dated from the previous century. When the railway arrived the peace was shattered but both forms of transport aided the village to grow.
Sadly any further walking wasn’t possible for me so we headed back to the boat where locals were suggesting to the boat behind us that fishing and barbeques were not allowed on the manor land. No signs saying so, at least our barbeque last night had been on the concrete edging, so no scorch marks on the grass.
We pushed off, the boat behind us moving into our space so they could stay longer and be out of the way of the community boat tomorrow morning. Pootling along we passed the house that is constantly being built, piling and some excavation alongside the canal and I think some stone work on the main building is new.
The Wolverton mural always requires a photo or two. Hot air balloons like the Olympic torch. There was a space on the moorings round the corner, we pulled in a few extra items of shopping required to keep us going. Mick head off with a shopping list and thankfully remembered to add a bag of onions to items that would make food preparation over the next few hot days more bearable.
Onwards, we need to keep up our pace northwards. Over the Iron Trunk Aqueduct and towards Cosgrove Lock, here a boat waited for our arrival so that we could share. They’d had a worrying phone call this morning which meant they needed to move today, on a bit of mission we let them lead the way out of the lock as we were wanting to top up with water which would take some time.
With fresh water filled and yellow water disposed of we moved on. Todays mooring should have been Adam’s mooring with the view through the hedge, but that wouldn’t give us any shade. I remembered tall hedging just after Solomon’s Bridge but that was already filled with boats that were wonderfully cool. We pootled on trying a few places, but the bottom was too close to the top. We only had as far as the next bridge before the towpath changed sides and we’d have to moor on the sunny side of the canal. Another attempt got us quite close, this would have to do. I’d not be trying to get to shore so as long as Mick could manage, Tilly was guaranteed to be able to jump the gap, which she did without any calculations required.
Two salmon steaks had been defrosted, no room for a barbeque today so I pan fried them with some red pepper and garlic, one of my favourites. Ends were woven in on the latest two pairs of socks before an early night as tomorrow we want to beat the heat up the Stoke Bruerne flight.
1 lock, 5.6 miles, 1 bag potatoes, 2 red peppers, 1 bunch spring onions, 1 full water tank, 1 hot hot day, 2 hours of Tilly time, 2 hot for a stamp, 30 pairs of socks finished.
