Wallingford and on to Abingdon

At eight o’clock on Wednesday morning last Sharon, Janis’ sister and very worthy crew member, decided she needed a break so caught a bus at Wallingford at the start of a trip to the Greek Islands and shortly afterwards our little fleet cast off for the passage north towards Abingdon.

 

This is just the boathouse!

 

In close company…..

 

……with friends

 

The Red Kite in flight

 

We had arrived at Wallingford on the previous Sunday afternoon from Beale Park in good sunshine, so to make the most of it, we set off straightaway to reconnoitre the ancient town and castle remains. Unfortunately all that remains of the latter, one of the largest in Medieval England, is two fragments of wall, an extensive meadow that must be wonderful in Springtime festooned with wild flowers and a tall mound that was the original motte in the days of William the Conqueror. It looked an impressive structure from the plans that were shown on various boards in the park.

 

A fragment of Wall that was Wallingford Castle

 

A blaze of colour in Wallingford

 

Dame Agatha Christie’s Gravestone at Cholsey

 

On the Tuesday, the previous day having been rained off, we three set off to walk the three miles to Cholsey, a nearby small village where in the churchyard there are the remains of Dame Agatha Christie. After viewing the gravestone we enjoyed a drink at the local Red Lion before setting off on our walk back across the fields.

After leaving Wallingford on Wednesday morning, Janis and I breasted our two boats together a couple of hours later at a very quiet rural mooring just above Day’s Lock and with white cattle lowing in the background, set off to explore nearby Dorchester with its ancient Abbey. We were impressed and marvelled that they could trace their history back to early pagan Saxon times, when St Birinus was sent from Rome in the Seventh Century as a missionary. He was the first Bishop of Dorchester and his shrine is in the abbey.

 

Our quiet mooring at Day’s Lock

 

We spent a quiet night at Day’s Lock before setting off, arriving here in Abingdon yesterday afternoon. Today has been quiet with me cleaning ship, doing the laundry and writing this post. Tomorrow we plan to be tourists again.