Northampton

Jan was feeling slightly better this morning so as soon as the rain eased I walked her to Asda for some shopping therapy.  She browsed the aisles selecting small and light items which eventually filled the trolley.  I’ll go back tomorrow for the heavy items.  After a brief rest back on Waiouru (along with some time to allow her to pack away all the groceries) I walked her in the rain to the centre of Northampton.  We eventually found a ‘spoons’ where the usual items on the menu were selected.  Northampton has a market in the square Mon – Sat.  Today was fruit & veg day, but it must be mornings only

There is a statue in front of All Saints Church.

Jan went over to read the text, returning to tell me “It’s a knight!”  From my perspective it looks like the figure was carved from a single tree trunk. A chip off the old block

All Saints Church

The following words are carved on the lintel of the church facade.

This statue was erected in memory of King Charles II who gave a thousand tun of timber towards the rebuilding of this church and to this town seven years chimney money collected in it.

That pricked my interest.  On 20 September 1675 a major fire broke out and destroyed much of the town. The church was rebuilt in a design similar to those used by Christopher Wren.  The stature of King Charles is located above the lintel with him dressed in a Roman tunic. Note the wikipedia link above wrongly reports the king being dressed in a toga.

The IWA Festival is being held in Northampton this weekend and mooring space is at a premium on the River Nene below Cotton Lock.  We appear to have taken the sensible option mooring above the lock.  In the evening I walked along the riverbank and took a few photos using my phone camera.

We received a robotic email today from the blog visit counter reporting we had reached half a million visits which was the maximum free allowance.  If we want to record more then payment is required.  I can’t believe it…….  half a million visits to read all this rubbish.  Of course quarter of a million visits are from me unsuccessfully attempting to correct errors and omissions in published posts!