Napton Junction to Rugby: 10/4/2023

 The rain stopped.

After telling everyone for days that there was about to be a week of torrents and hurricanoes, the Met Office admitted today that it had all just been their little bit of fun, and that what we could actually expect was a dampish morning, followed by strong enough breezes to blow the clouds away. And that is what we got. I don't think it would have made any difference to my plans at this stage if I had known earlier, since my blister is making it unpleasant to walk very far, but I would have been less anxious about the whole thing.

As it was, I had a nice breakfast, said goodbye to the ducks in the pond outside my window, and left Wigrams to drive to Rugby in the rain, once I had the windscreen wipers figured out. I took a few detours on the way; some deliberate, to look at nice old village buildings and churches, and some inadvertent as the roads were under repair, but I was still in Rugby around 11 am, looking for the Travelodge. My GPS let me down for once. I ended up at the station, and had to go round the block again looking for the way into the Travelodge car park, which also plays host to a good-sized Tesco's Express. Coincidentally, the hotel is only about 100m from the laundromat that I went to yesterday. I thought at first the GPS had reverted back to those directions.

I got my parking acknowledged by the hotel, and went off to explore Rugby. I've already talked about the twentieth-century terraced houses, but there are plenty of older buildings here too, including the famous Rugby School from Tom Brown's Schooldays, which now has a statue of the author out the front. It's really more like a campus than a school, with multiple buildings spread out across the town, and obviously no shortage of money. And of course the rugby grounds, on which there was a team actually playing rugby. So I saw rugby at Rugby in Rugby. If you write it often enough, the word starts to look very strange indeed. And there's a small park where a church used to be, where they have dug up the graves but kept the gravestones, so you can stroll hand and hand with your beloved through the dreadful records of death and catastrophe.

The poorer section of Rugby seems to subsist entirely on charity shops, like some of the smaller towns in Tasmania; but towards the centre of town there's a new shopping plaza and a museum and art gallery, which also houses the library. Nearly everything is open; Easter Monday doesn't seem to have much impact here. I had a large latte -- genuinely large, and genuinely a latte, which is not always the case -- and sat outside the cafe to enjoy the renascent sunshine. I bought some foot treatment stuff in a shop here, although they only had medium blister pads, and mine is definitely a large. Then I walked on to Caldecott Park, where oddly enough there is a Hazel Bell avenue -- though whether it was named after the well-known indexer I have no idea.

Back to the hotel by one-thirty, where I bought some sandwiches at Tesco's and reluctantly paid GBP10 for early entry to my room. It's pleasant enough, but a little cramped, with a general air of stinginess about it; particularly the 'free' Wi-fi that runs out after only half an hour. Really, they should be able to do better than that. But at least I didn't pick it myself.

After lunch I really thought I should get out and enjoy the sun, so I took the car out to Newbold Quarry Nature Reserve. The GPS took me to the pedestrian gate rather than the car parking area, but once I had sorted that out I had a pleasant stroll around the area. The quarry has closed and filled up with water, making a little lake that you can walk around in about half an hour. There is also access from the park to -- you guessed it -- our old friend the Oxford Canal, much more forested in this area, and quite busy with boats, but just as muddy on the towpath. And here I actually heard a woodpecker, quite close by, although I couldn't see it, hammering away at a tree for a couple of minutes.

I then took the car on to Swift Valley Country Park, which is a good place to see what happens when canals aren't maintained. There's an abandoned branch here which is slowly silting up, and obviously the wildlife love it. Plenty of birds here riding the thermals -- not only kites but bigger birds like harriers or eagles. And plenty of mud, of course.

Back at the hotel I bought a Guinness from Tescos and retired to my room. I am finding that a big cooked breakfast is enough of a meal for the day, supplemented with sandwiches and some fruit and veg. Slightly annoyed at the limited Wi-fi, but I managed to write some music, which I will post using the phone hotspot. And so to bed.