St Marys

We have been to Banbury many times before and have always admired St Mary’s church but we have never been inside . So this time we made a point of visiting and we were certainly not disappointed.
St Mary’s predecessor was a splendid mediaeval church which had fallen into disrepair and had become dangerous. Part of the old church collapsed one Sunday morning in April 1790 with the tower adding itself to the rubble the following day. Financial constraints delayed the completion of the new church and the “pepper pot” tower was not completed until 1822.

On our way in to the church we noticed this plaque named "Gulliver's Travels" - Jonathan Swift hints in the preface to the 1726 edition of Gulliver's Travels that he had taken the name of Gulliver from tombstones in the Churchyard at Banbury. Unfortunatley none of the original tombstones from that time exist anymore.

As designed by the architect, Samuel Pepys Cockerill, the building was a perfect square with sides 90 feet long. It is thought to have been modelled on Sir Christopher Wren’s St. Stephen’s Church, Walbrook, which, like this building, has a dome supported by twelve classical columns. Originally the gallery ran round the four sides and the church was able to accommodate 3,000.
Extensive alterations were made in the mid-19th century under the influence of the Tractarian movement. In 1858 the eastern gallery was removed and in 1873 the whole east end was reconstructed to the design of Sir Arthur Blomfield, and richly coloured. Blomfield’s decorative scheme has now gone, apart from the figures in the chancel which are painted in imitation mosaic and a small detail by the door into the south stairwell.  The view towards the alter from high up in the gallery.

The domed ceiling which is supported by the twelve columns.

We spent 10 minutes sitting in the pews up in the gallery just soaking up the atmosphere of the church.

The stained glass is also of Blomfield’s time, the most striking windows being those at the eastern end of the nave above the galleries – by an unknown artist. The upper windows in the gaIlery represent scenes from the life of Jesus – 30 illustrations in all, while the lower windows illustrate 10 of his parables. The detailed background in all the windows well repays attention. In the second upper window on the north side is the well-known Arctic window in memory of the explorer Admiral Sir George Back, which contains sketches from his notebook – H.M.S. Terror caught in the ice, Eskimos, polar bears, seals, reindeer, walrus and a surround of snow flakes.

The Church is open Monday to Friday from 12.00 to 14.00, Saturday 10.00 to 14.00 and then on Sundays where all are invited to the services. Well worth a visit if you are ever in the area.

As with every town we pass through on our journey around the country we always end up looking in estate agents to gauge the local property prices. We are still not sure where we will live once we retire from boating , but Banbury is certainly a possibility as we both love the town and the area. 
                                                                                                            
                                                                    Happy Days

Ride a Cock Horse

 

Still in Banbury and I’m always amazed at the appearance of the Banbury cross because for some reason I always expected a large cross and not something stuck in the middle of a roundabout on a busy road . Although Banbury has had many crosses over the years the current Banbury Cross is a stone, spire-shaped monument decorated in Gothic form. Statues of Queen Victoria, Edward VII and George V were added in 1914 to commemorate the coronation of George V. The cross is 52 feet 6 inches (16 m) high, and topped by a gilt cross.

The words of the Banbury Cross nursery rhyme are often attributed to Queen Elizabeth I of England (the fine lady) who travelled to Banbury to see a huge stone cross which had just been erected. The words 'With rings on her fingers' obviously relates to the fine jewellery which would be worn by a Queen. The words 'And bells on her toes' refer to the fashion of attaching bells to the end of the pointed toes of each shoe - this fashion actually originates from the Plantagenet era of English history but was associated with the nobility for some time! Banbury was situated at the top of a steep hill and in order to help carriages up the steep incline a white cock horse (a large stallion) was made available by the town's council to help with this task. When the Queen's carriage attempted to go up the hill a wheel broke and the Queen chose to mount the cock horse and ride to the Banbury cross. The people of the town had decorated the cock horse with ribbons and bells and provided minstrels to accompany her - "she shall have music wherever she goes". The massive stone cross at Banbury was unfortunately later destroyed by anti - Catholics who opposed the notion of pilgrimages.

Next to the busy roundabout with the banbury cross is this lady on a Horse …..   Ride a cockhorse to Banbury Cross,To see a fine lady upon a white horse.

With  rings on her fingers ……

and bells on her toes, She shall have music wherever she goes.  That was for Curly.

After a walk around the town it was then time to catch up with friends Bob and Jan .We first met them a few years ago when we shared the Hatton flight of locks .They are also boaters but are a bit more sensible than us and live in their house in the Winter and then spend the Summer on their boat called Small Dreams. It was good to have a catch up and we have arranged to meet up again in a couple of days time. With Carolyn still hitting the fitness centre every day and sometimes even twice a day it seems like we could well be here for sometime, although I’m sure I will start to get itchy feet before long.

                                                                                                      Happy Days

Unhappy Hamish

It’s been some time since I posted a blog with the main reason being that we haven’t actually done a lot. With Carolyn doing all her keep fit plus wondering around the town plus a bit of ice on the canal it’s all been very quiet. Hamish as always loves it here as he has a lovely big park to walk and run in .It’s also a big thank you to all the hard working volunteers that keep this park in tip top condition.

Something we always do when we are here at this time of year is to get Hamish all of his inoculations done which is something that he is not very keen on. As you can see he knows something is going on and does not look at all happy.

He has now twigged as to what is going to happen . After a thorough examination from the Vet he is given a clean bill of health. Now for the jab and Carolyn has to hold him down with all her strength as he gets the needle. He also needed to have his kennel cough which is a drug that they squirt up his nose. There was no way he was going to have that done with us there in the room and in the end the Vet had to take him out the back where they caught him by surprise and did the deed . Needless to say he was not a happy Bunny ,but at least he hasn’t got to go through that for another 12 months.

On the way back we decided to pick up a Pasty from the West Cornish Pasty co . Unfortunately there isn’t a Devon Pasty shop in the area which sells far better made and tastier pasty’s.The last few times we have been here they have always given a discount for visiting Boaters and with a normal Pasty costing a fiver that’s very welcomed. But now they have stopped giving the discount so needless to say we will not be using them again.

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Out and about

 

As you can see we have the most perfect mooring in Banbury . It’s right next to Spiceball park which is ideal for the number one ship’s dog Hamish. With plenty of Rabbits for him to chase he is in his element. The only problem being is that the Rabbits are far too fast for Hamish and he never manages to catch one.

Also next to our mooring is the Spiceball leisure centre. Carolyn being keen on her fitness has taken out a Months membership at the centre even though we won’t be here that long, it just worked out cheaper to do it that way instead of paying for all the individual workouts. So far she has signed up for Aquafit, 20-20-20  ,body pump ,boot camp, legs burns and turns and circuit training . It makes me feel tired just thinking about it.

As always if there’s a Wetherspoons near to us we usually end up visiting it. Here in Banbury we have The Exchange and no doubt this will not be our only visit.

There was no way that we were going to walk past Poundland with a sale like this on. The sale was down to 50 pence and now it’s 25 pence .It seems that the shop is closing down and everything needs to go. Needless to say it was just the same old crap just at a cheaper price. We did though buy a couple of packets of Pork scratchings which I love, Last of the big spenders…

With another week or so here we have a few things planned just as long as we can squeeze them in with Carolyn’s exercise programme.

                                                                                                              Happy Days

Imagine

 

On a grey day we pulled pins at 08.30 from our mooring above the lock at Cropredy. We passed this boat before the lock and it looks like someone enjoys their music.

After filling with water and getting shot of the waste at Cropredy services we soon passed this guy and what a miserable old git he is . We gave him a wave and a smile but he just ignored us . It’s not like we were speeding or anything like that. Anyway Carolyn said he is no different to me ,although I don’t know what she means by that.

A couple of miles outside of Banbury and how lucky are we to see this Chap in the reeds next to the canal . I think it’s a Roe Deer ,but I might be wrong. How about that for a bit of Camouflage, I think this is the closest we have ever been to a wild Deer.

As you enter Banbury there are always a couple of miserable looking Donkeys in this field. When we come back this way in a couple of weeks we will make sure that we have a few Carrots that we can throw to them as we pass just to cheer them up a bit.

After a good two and a half cruise with just four locks we are lucky enough to pick up the mooring we wanted . It’s right in front of Tom Rolt bridge and next to Spiceball park and the Spiceball Leisure centre. It’s then it’s just a small hop away from the main town of Banbury. It seems like with her Ladyship being happy here having signed up at the leisure centre for several activities this will do us for the next week or so.

                                                                                                            Happy Days