On Monday (23/08/2021) we walked up to Fortnum & Masons for some expensive shopping. On the way back we stopped for coffee in the Mulberry Cafe and Steve was surprised by the gastronomic delight of the avocado and courgette cake that was on offer.
We wandered through the village on the way back to the boat.
We didn’t do the full Village Trail but we covered quite a lot of it.
There were some quaint old thatched cottages, the one in the middle had a straw cat on the roof.
The Church of St Mary the Virgin, Cropredy has a long and interesting history. The South Aisle dates from as early as 1050. The Sanctuary in it's present form dates from the 14th century. The lower stage of the tower dates from 15th century and the belfry was added about 80 years later. The clock, with it's 14ft long wooden pendulum dates from 1831. The tower has 8 bells, six of which were installed in the 17th century and the last two, Fairport and Villager were added in 2007. These bells were named to reflect the good relationship between the church and local Fairport Convention annual festival.
Although we didn’t go in, there are many items of interest in the church, including a Millennium Tapestry, which depicts all aspects of village life and in the South Aisle replica armour from the battle of Cropredy (the originals were stolen and never recovered).
We returned to the boat and moved on again, heading for Cropredy Marina where Hilary had booked us in for 3 days holiday with electrical hookup. There was only the Cropredy Lock to get through.
And then a right turn into the marina.
We moored up and after cleaning, stocktaking of food and medicines, window cleaning, filling with water, emptying the Elsan (toilet cassette), Steve got his book out on a nearby picnic table.
On Monday (23/08/2021) morning we awoke to a misty sunrise. Ducks raced over to see if the new arrivals had any spare bread for them,
Cropredy Marina is actually a boat park so most of the many narrowboats here were unoccupied. Nobody was allowed to live aboard here, but stays of up to three days was permitted by visiting boats, like us.
Steve fitted new inner tubes and tyres To the new folding bike.
As usual on these marinas there were some maverick motorcycles including this three-wheeler.
It seems that boaters like a chopper!
We spent a few days of rest and relaxation here, with Steve doing daily cycles to Fortnum & Mason (The Bridge Store) for supplies. His bike pump was on the way out and he was wary of cycling with insufficient pressure in the tyres, but the tubes held out and 5 derailleur gears were better than the 3 gears on the old Raleigh for handling steep gradients in the road to town.
On the last visit to the shop he had to wait while the computer system for card payments rebooted after a recent power cut. Apparently a swan had bitten through the electrical cable. “I bet it was fried,” said the shop assistant, clearly hoping that it had been!
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