Oundle

On the morning of Saturday 25th May the sun was again shining gloriously and we woke to the sound of a friendly (?) swan pecking at the side hatch. It hissed a little but didn't put his head into the boat as some have.We gave him some "duck" food - I hope it wasn't too demeaning. 

We decided that it was time to head home. We went downstream below Fotheringhay bridge to turn since turning upstream of a bridge can be a bit tricky. Our winding point was about half a mile towards Elton and Warmington Lock. Moving upstream we passed the site of the famous Fortheringhay Castle. Coming upstream we appeared to have somewhat of a better view.

A Morning Visitor

Fotheringhay Church and Castle Mound (right)

Site of Fotheringhay Castle

The plan for the day was simple, a short trip to Oundle to moor at the Oundle Cruising Club and then explore the town. The clubhouse is between the Upper and Lower Barnwell Locks and has some handy visitor moorings. I had noticed them on our way downstream but discounted them on the basis that there were some good moorings at Ashton (wrong of course).

Oundle Cruising Club with visitor moorings

Alfresco Dinner at the OCC

 The welcome we got at the club was exceptional. The volunteer staff at the bar were very accommodating and helped us get the best out of our afternoon in Oundle. We had a stroll around the town, did some shopping, had coffee and topped up provisions at Waitrose. We even discovered a wonderful plant nursery/florist called Foxtail Lilly - they are well connected to the RHS and even manage to stage pop-up Shakespeare plays.

Foxtail Lilly