Canals, Cropredy and a change in the weather

A derelict Top Lock circa 1970

Having spent a wonderful summer in newly-discovered East Anglia, I set off on 2^nd August for north Oxfordshire which involved driving up the A12 towards Ipswich, turning off onto the A14 and following it all the way until it disappeared into the M1/M6, and then heading off towards Rugby before turning south to Southam and my ultimate destination of Claydon. Luckily the roads weren't too busy for a Saturday and I made the 150 mile journey in exactly 3 hours (which is what I'd predicted). However, I then had to sit in the car for twenty minutes until the rain eased off enough for me to get out of the car, put on my waterproofs and walk the quarter of a mile up the tow path!

Phoebe has put her lovely canal-side property back on the market again and wanted help tidying it up ready for an open house event that she was going to host in a bid to drum up interest. The property would really suit a young, enthusiastic couple of eco-warriors as it has very green credentials, being entirely off-grid. The main disadvantage is its lack of vehicular access, so that everything has to be taken up the towpath or consigned to a friendly narrowboat negotiating the locks. This has made it very hard for Phoebe, who is only a few years younger than me and lives by herself – it really needs a couple to make it work.

I set to almost straight away weeding the brick paths and dead-heading the plants in the flower beds in front of the house – it always amazes me how much better things look with just these simple measures taken. I only had limited time to help get things shipshape as I was due to go to Cropredy on 7^th August for the three-day music festival, and we were going to the Green Gathering at Chepstow on Sunday, 3^rd August.

To promote the sale of her house, Phoebe had had some T-shirts and postcards printed with a picture of the house on the front and the words 'You too can live the eco-dream...' and on the back a few details and the price. Her idea was for us to wear the T-shirts to the Gathering and distribute postcards as we were going to meet up with some people from the WWOOF organisation and, hopefully, some fellow hosts and WWOOFers.

We set off at about 9.00am on Sunday morning, leaving Malin, the lurcher, behind in case it got too hot, and made quite good time to Chepstow racecourse where the Gathering was being held. It cost us £25 each for a day ticket, and that was with a £5 reduction for being WWOOF members, so I was quite disappointed with what I found. I'd expected it to be very similar to the Big Green Gathering that used to be held on the Mendips and where Jeni and I had stewarded several years ago, but this was just a shadow of its former self. There was a campaigns area, a craft area and a permaculture area plus a healing field and all the usual wholefood outlets, but there were none of the large venues for music and debate and we found no sign of any eco-build ideas such as straw-bale houses, etc. However, the main disappointment was that we couldn't find the WWOOF stand – we walked round and round and eventually asked at the Information Tent. They had never even heard of WWOOF and professed not to know who had booked pitches or where they might be located! By now we were both getting a trifle grumpy so took ourselves off to the permaculture area to enquire at their information point. It was the same story there, too – they had not heard of WWOOF, nor did they know where they were until we spotted a 'talk' advertised on a chalkboard outside a tipi which just said 'WWOOF 4-5pm' – no explanation of what WWOOF stood for or anything. By now I was ranting loudly about 'piss-ups in breweries' and bemoaning the fact that I had allied myself to a bunch of incompetents – what a glorious, golden opportunity missed! There should have been a major WWOOF presence there as they could have targeted exactly the type of people they want to reach, but they didn't even have a promotional stall. We wandered round a bit more and had a very tasty curry sitting on the grass (the only high spot of the day) before deciding that we would have to leave if we were to get back in time to give Malin a walk and her food. We never got to the talk as the original time slot for the meeting was 2-4pm not 4-5pm; Phoebe had driven a round trip of 160 miles and wasted a whole day that could have been better spent in the garden and had given out just two postcards – we were furious!

Phoebe sent an email when we got home and eventually WWOOF got back to us with an apology and the offer of refunding our entrance fee. They had not been told of the time slot alteration until midday on Sunday and couldn't contact us to let us know, but it still rankles that they weren't even there for the rest of the three-day event.

Early morning canal

I worked out my frustrations on the garden over the next few days and then, at just gone 7.00am on Thursday I set off down the towpath with my rucksack on my back towards Cropredy. It was a glorious morning, despite the dire weather forecast, and on my way I met a couple of canal people that I got to know last year. One of them, Jason, invited me on board to have a cuppa to break my journey (it was only about three miles, but felt longer!) before I walked on and met up with my sister, brother-in-law and the rest of the gang – just in time for breakfast rolls!

Evening festival sky

Cropredy (or 'Fairport' as the locals call it) has become an annual event on my calendar and I really enjoy the company and the eclectic mix of music. This year we were treated to the likes of Waterboys, The Wonder Stuff, The Australian Pink Floyd Show (who were amazing despite the torrential rain we had to endure while they were on stage) and.....Chas 'n'Dave! Whoever thought they were a good choice was seriously mis-informed, although I did find my feet tapping along to all the old boogie-woogie favourites in spite of myself. Alongside these well-known names there were other more folk-based artists, and the whole festival was thoroughly enjoyable. However, on Sunday morning we had to strike camp in the pouring rain and decided to forego our usual farewell breakfast roll at one of the venues in the village. Unfortunately, Phoebe's open house event was scheduled for this Sunday and did not drum up the interest that she'd hoped for – only 4 people came to seriously look around and several friends turned up to give moral support.

The next day the weather was dry again but with a keen wind and Phoebe and I got back out in the garden removing ivy from one wall and a huge clematis from another. Unfortunately for me, it was far too windy to have a bonfire, so I had to leave the enormous mountain of debris that we'd created for someone else to play with!

It didn't feel as if I'd been there five minutes before I was repacking my bag and heading off down the towpath to my car and the short journey back to Cheltenham. I was very aware, as Phoebe and I left the house, that it may very well be the last time I stay at Top Lock and it made me feel very sad as I've enjoyed my stays there over the last few years.

Top Lock as it is today

Sunny days back in Suffolk

The vegetable garden

I can't believe that it's more than a month since I wrote a blog! Sorry, if anybody has been missing my musings (and if not, why not?).

On 19^th July I headed through Norfolk once more and back into Suffolk to my next hosts who were located about two miles, as the crow flies, from the community at East Bergholt and about six miles by road! Lyn and Colin live in a large house with extensive gardens and a couple of paddocks that, at this time of year, contain four orphan lambs and three pigs, all ultimately destined for the freezer. They also have quite a few chickens, two cockerels and two, rather elderly Muscovy ducks that live in an enclosure beyond the only remaining wall of an erstwhile walled garden. There are still the remains of one of the greenhouses against the inside wall and a large, sprawling grapevine that obviously was inside another greenhouse, at some point. Inside the poultry area is the original gardener's bothy complete with chimney and original cast iron grate.

The gardener's bothy

When I arrived there was already another WWOOFer there, Melodie, from France. At first I found her a bit quiet and aloof but after a couple of days we were laughing and chatting like a couple of schoolgirls despite our age difference (she was 26). I realised, yet again, just how much of the French I was taught at school still resides in the dark recesses of my brain, as I dredged up nouns and eventually whole phrases to help the communication process. Melodie also tried to teach me some new words that would stand me in good stead if (when?) I ever go to WWOOF in France, such as 'mauvaise herbes' (weeds), 'punaise' (bug) and 'limace' (slug).

The weather was still very hot so our day started at 9.00am when we fed the pigs and let out and fed the poultry. We had to let the two ducks out first because they spent their days in the vegetable garden outside the poultry run and always walked very slowly and sedately, as befitted their great age. Then we would let out the hens and top up their feeders and drinkers before getting on with the main task of the day, which was weeding in the vegetable garden. At about 10.30 we would be called in for a coffee break and then work on again until lunch at 1.00pm. Lunch was usually eaten on the decking area near the swimming pool and consisted of salad, cheese and cold meats followed by homemade cake and a cup of tea. We were then free until 5.30pm when we would feed the pigs again, pick up the eggs and wash them and then water the polytunnel and garden, if necessary. At about 9.00pm one of us would go out and shut in the hens and usher the two ducks back to their quarters before shutting the doors on the polytunnel.

I had great ideas about going for walks in the afternoon but it was so hot that I usually retired to my room at the top of the house and had a siesta! On one particularly hot day Melodie and I both ventured into the unheated swimming pool. She had been a keen competition swimmer in her teens and I sadly realised that, although I hadn't forgotten how to swim, I had never been very good to start with! After a few minutes of splashing about, I got out. I didn't bother going in again – it seemed too much like hard work!

A Thames barge at Pin Mill

On my days off I continued my exploration of this part of Suffolk, although I decided not to bother going into either Ipswich or Colchester as I don't really like large towns and retail therapy holds no interest for me. I headed off, via Manningtree (the smallest town in England), towards the coast and ended up on a peninsula between the rivers Orwell and Stour from which I had a marvelous view of the container port at Felixstowe! From there I went to Pin Mill which is a tiny riverside hamlet, with land owned by the National Trust, and had lunch at the Butt and Oyster, a very old pub right on the quayside, before going for a short walk along the river. However, it was far too hot to walk far and I headed back to Dedham quite early in the day and took refuge in my room.

On another day I walked from the house down into Dedham (about a mile away), had a cup of tea in the Essex Rose tea rooms, walked along the river to Flatford Mill where I stopped for lunch in the (overpriced) restaurant and then continued to walk in a loop back to Dedham before going to the Munnings Collection which lies about 0.75 miles from the village centre.

Alfred Munnings is probably most famous for his equine paintings, but he was also an excellent portrait painter and was a war artist attached to the Canadian Cavalry in World War 1. In this the centenary year there was a new exhibition of some of these paintings and sketches and they were incredibly moving. The whole house has been bequeathed to the nation and it makes a wonderfully informal art gallery where you can sit on comfortable sofas in the library, pretty much as Alfred and his guests did, and look at the paintings.

I spent a good couple of hours wandering around before setting off once more up the hill and then along Long Road West towards Grove Hill and 'home'. Unfortunately for me, Long Road West is very well named and is very straight so that I could see the road junction in the distance. After walking for some minutes I looked up and saw that the junction appeared no nearer! It was like a nightmare journey where the ultimate goal just keeps moving further away! It was made even more nightmarish as the sky was getting darker and darker with the odd rumble of thunder and I had no rainwear! I later found out that Long Road West is at least a mile long from where I met it to the junction so no wonder it felt like it went on forever. By the time I got back I had probably walked the best part of six miles and I was exhausted.

On the Tuesday of my second week another WWOOFer arrived, a lady of my own age from former East Germany. Her son had bought her WWOOF UK membership for a year as her Christmas present as he thought she should do some travelling. I thought she was extremely brave to WWOOF in a foreign country as her first experience. I had to chuckle on her first morning as she appeared brandishing a small fork that she'd brought with her – I wondered if it was an age-related thing as it is one of the tools that I wouldn't be without, either!

On my last day off I went back to Old Hall for coffee and got invited to stay for lunch too, which was lovely. They had a whole army of new WWOOFers in residence, about ten of them, I think, so I was quite glad that I was just passing through. I then drove to Hadleigh where I stocked up with new gardening gloves (at £1.45/pair) from Partridge's hardware shop, had a brief look inside the church and then wandered along the river watching the fish and the damsel flies before, more prosaically, filling up with petrol at the cheapest garage that I knew in the area ready for the 'off' on Saturday.

 

On my last day in Suffolk, Colin gave Dorothea, Melodie and I an exclusive tour of the bell tower at Dedham church where he rings the bells. The bells are no longer rung in the conventional way as the swinging of that amount of weight had caused serious structural damage to the tower, so now the bells are chimed instead. I must admit that the crack running down the inside of the tower was pretty impressive! The view from the top of the tower, however, was well worth the climb as it was quite a clear day and we could see all the way to Felixstowe, as well as having a birds eye view down over Dedham.

View from Dedham Church tower towards Felixstowe