Hanging Out At Bradford On Avon

Friday, June 21

 

Today started out like so many others with yet another forecast of rain that fails to materialize.  In fact, it was mostly sunny and warm.  I decided to hit Sainsbury's grocery store just after it opened at 7:00 so that we would have something for breakfast as well as some provisions to get us through the weekend. This Sainsbury's is a superstore and only a ten minute walk away from the cottage.  I took the street getting there but it is very near the canal so I used the path along the canal for a pleasant way to get back. 

After breakfast we decided to explore BoA on foot and used the canal path to get to the nearby Tithe Barn which is Britain's largest surviving.  It's about 800 years old and looks like it could easily survive another 800 years.  The wood beams in the inside ceiling form a very intricate and beautiful pattern.  We then explored the nearby artists’ workshops in the old buildings that had been part of the old Barrett Farm before it was turned over to be a park.

BoA is picturesque for many reasons, one is that it has both a canal and the Avon River which run through it.  Crossing the Avon on an old bridge we came upon the town's main church as well as a Saxon church that is around a thousand years old.  We couldn't find a way into the main church but the Saxon church was open and the interior is beautiful in a stark sort of way.  Exploring the high street we came across The Shambles which is a short stretch of small shops on both sides of a narrow walkway.

BoA sits in a river valley and as the town grew into a thriving mill town it's inhabitants built homes going up the hill that were connected by a maze of small streets and narrow walkways.  We climbed our way up that hill and reached a couple of levels of town houses where the small gardens (yards) were separated from the house by the public walkway running right in front of the doors.  The gardens were very colorfully landscaped and we had a couple of cat encounters.  We eventually reached the top where an old chapel (500 years?) is located.

 

After working our way back down the hill we stopped at the Lock Inn Cafe where we had lunch at 2:00 in one of the tiny cabins that sat outside the pub on the canal.   I had a cider and fish and chips, and Marnie had a Pimms and vegetable banti which was a curry dish.  The Pimms was two shots of that fruit liquor with seltzer and slices of a lime and an apple and is popular summertime drink.

 

Below is one of the other places to grab a table at the Lock Inn Cafe, in a former narrow boat.  Our cottage overlooks the canal at this point on the left bank.

Afterwards we hung out at Bradford Lock which is less than a 100 yards from our cottage.  It was fascinating to watch the lock being used and it seemed like we could operated it ourselves after just a few minutes watching.  Many canal boats were vacationers but the one pictured below was apparently a business meeting that was probably doubling as a team building exercise.  We then went back to the cottage at 3:30 for a nap and watched “The Madness of King George” during dinner.