Friday 16th
November 2018
We are at Napton filling in time until we have to be back in Braunston
for 26th November. Until then we are just tootling around. We didn’t
want to have to go through Braunston tunnel, Buckby Locks and Watford Locks are
closed anyway. We are going to overwinter on the Coventry/Ashby canals, so didn’t
want to travel in that direction, which left the South Oxford. The first locks
at Napton are closed, hence a dead end, but there is the Grand Union towards
Warwick.
The brush and mop stales were given their first coat of grey paint. I
do enjoy pottering about outside and watching the coming and goings of other boats.
Brenda found a programme on i-player that we had been looking forward to. “They
Shall Not Grow Old”. It was a compilation of old film telling the story of the
First World War, but had been realistically coloured-in and forensic lip
readers had dubbed the speech. Compelling viewing but upsetting and humbling.
It was due to be removed from i-player so we sat down and watched that on
Brenda’s phone.
We walked up to Napton village, actually called Napton-on-the-Hill.
The guide shows it as a small place but it is well spread out around and up the
south side of the hill. It is a fascinating mixture of old and new and could easily
tell the story of the development of an English country village.
We are always drawn to any country church; we feel it holds the heart
of a village along with the war memorial. The church at Napton, St. Lawrence’s,
dates back to the 13th century. It holds a number of interesting artefacts
including a wooden chest donated to the church in 1624, the fin from a World
War II incendiary bomb and two stone altars. Stone altars are quite rare. They
were readily used before the majority were destroyed during the Reformation.
Some were buried and found many years later, as was the case here.
Napton is well known for its windmill which sits atop the hill and can
be seen for many miles around. We walked as close to it as you can get. Unfortunately,
it is privately owned and the occupants make it clear it is on private
property. On the track to the windmill, you pass a World War II observers post
from where they watched the bombing of Coventry. It was a misty day but the
views here are quite spectacular.
Back at the boat we watched TV and even had our dinner on our laps. A
first.
Weather: mild but dull.
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