There was a market in the centre of Wallingford yesterday, so we had a walk to have a look around it. The market wasn't very big but had some good fresh produce, fruit & veg, home made cheeses, fish and a few other stalls too. Kev & I had a wander around Wallingford and there were lots of nooks & crannies with properties tucked away in and down one small lane we found a row of small cottages and at the end was this...
The Old Row Barge
It had once been a pub and in 1996 it was turned into a private residence, but it dates back to the 17th century. We had a walk with Jaz about 4.30pm across the bridge to the Boat House pub and sat outside with a pint, then we had a walk to The Dolphin pub in the small town precinct and sat outside there with another pint! Feeling a bit hungry Kev went to a chinese takeaway to get us some food while I took Jaz back to the boat.
This morning we were a bit naughty we left our mooring at Wallingford before the woman came for our mooring fee! So 2 nights for £5!! Our first lock today was Benson lock which was on self service as it was before 9am when the lockies usually are on duty, although I think on Sundays it is about 10 am, so I got off R&R and went to set the lock for Kev.
Shillingford Bridge
Shillingford Bridge Hotel with it's swimming pool being cleaned ready for any brave guest!
Not as cute as our little Jaz!
Another super property
With matching boathouse!
Our next stop was the sanitary station close to Days Lock, where we tied up while Kev did the necessaries! All done then onto the lock where the lockie had seen us and opened the lock gates so we went straight in. We managed to get moored after the lock on some grassland and got in-between a small narrowboat and a cruiser. There is a footpath close by that takes you into Dorchester so we decided to take Jaz and have a walk. It is about a mile but the footpath is good and is very dry at the moment, as we got to the end of the footpath there is a small holding that sells teas, home made jams, cakes and fresh eggs, it also sells books 3 for £1 & other little bits and pieces all are for a cat charity.
We spoke to the man there and said we would call on our way back for some eggs & jam & maybe a bit of cake & a cuppa too!
Dorchester is really lovely and worth the walk, plenty of very old properties, a shop, public toilets, 2 churches one of which is a Catholic one, a little tea room, oh and a few pubs too! For my friend Gail here are some photos for you....
First time I have seen a thatched wall!
Think this is the first yellow cab in the UK
There is a museum through the church gates.
Jaz is in the photo again!
After a good walk around Dorcheter I was glad of the public toilets on our way back to the footpath and also we stopped at the little small holding, where we enjoyed a lovely piece of Lemon Drizzle cake and a good cup of tea. We bought half a dozen freshly laid eggs & small jar of jam too all this for £8.50 which we thought was very good.
If you are still there , a walk up the clump is well worth it ,to see the ironage hill fort
ReplyDeleteRich and Sharon ( nb oakapple )
Thanks Sharon, Kev has been up there this morning with Jaz while I was cleaning but we are going back with the camera & binoculars.
ReplyDelete