Walking Wallingford.

We were off a little earlier than usual despite not having too far to travel to our destination. We heading for Wallingford.

On the bend at Shillingford is this lovely house. It looks like it should be an hotel, or a pair of semi detatched, but it probably isn't!

A little further down was this much more manageable boat house that was in fine fettle. I loved the brickwork. 

The next item of note was Shillingford Bridge. There is mention of a bridge here as early as 1301. How ever it must have been taken down around 1379 as there was a ferry from then until 1767 when a bridge was built. It continued in use until 1826 when the present Listed Bridge was built and opened in 1827.

Not far after the bridge is Rush Court and this really reminded me of Lake Como where there are some sumptuous properties that come down to the water and have walls and landing stages like this.

As we cleared Benson Lock, the only one of the day we said hello to blogger 'Seyella' as they were waiting to enter on their way up. It wasn't too much longer before arrived at Wallingford and decided to moor up before the bridge. After lunch we walked into town. The bridge still has the Medieval bridge incorporated in it. The central arches were rebuilt in 1809 after floods. The Church is St. Peter's. The old church was destroyed by fire during the Civil War but was rebuilt in 1769. The steeple reminds me of the one at Upton upon Severn.

From the bridge you can see 'Holderness' on the right bank and the furthest away.

 We walked to the museum to pick a guided walk leaflet and set off. We crossed the road to this open space The Kinecroft. It was grazing for the townsfolk's cattle in the Saxon times of the 9th Century. The picture is taken taken from the remains of one of the Saxon Ramparts that defended the town. The tree line in the distance is another wall. The ditch was deeper and the ramparts about a third taller topped by a wooden palisade in the day. The town shrank in towards the end of the 13th Century and left this open space.

This type of brickwork is seen a lot in the area with the the stretchers (long ones) alternating with the short ones (headers). I think this is called Flemish Bond. The different colours are made by firing the header bricks for longer, or vitrifying them, so they change colour.

There are many different old buildings in the town and walking down towards the Thames on Lower Wharf we came across this old malt house built in the 17th Century. As it was near the wharf grains must have been brought in by barge and products sent out as necessary. The building still has the wooden windows to regulate the air in the process.

St Mary's Street has a few quirky shops and was built on the site of the old St. Mary's church.

The white painted Town Hall is like a mini version of the one in Abingdon. It was built in 1670. We had to stop and watch a wedding party descend the stairs from the former Court and Sessions room.

We picked odds and sods at Waitrose and then repaired to the George for a pint. We were honestly going to have a coffee at Waitrose but their machine was on the blink so the pub it was. We would have gone later in the day anyway as I wanted to try out the Marlow brewery, Rebellion. I had a pint of Smuggler and IPA and it was passable.

Back to the boat to do the nuts and bolts of toe nails and a haircut along with Helen's baking. I am now fit to be seen in public again.