Friday, June 26, 2009

Marking Time

It's exam time and therefore it's marking time so earlier this week we went to Cambridge, as we did this time last year, for Paul's OCR examiner's meeting at the Gonville Hotel which is just by Parker's Piece. We actually set out the day before to visit friends in Spalding, where we used to live, and had a lovely lunch with them at the Swan Hotel in Moulton and then a visit to the Owl Centre at Weston. Here are some photos of our day.

The Market Place, Spalding - unfortunately it wasn't Market Day

The new footbridge over the River Welland in the centre of Spalding

The Mill at Moulton which is opposite the Swan Hotel

Walking by the Mill

Our next stop was The Owl Centre which is within the Baytree Garden Centre at nearby Weston. Paul took loads of photos - here

One of the owls at the centre - a Ural Owl called Titch

No, this isn't an owl - this is Chester and he is a Giant French Pappillion - well I did promise rabbits!

We were staying at the Travelodge at Alwalton just south of Peterborough and close to the East of England Showground. Our room was overlooking the fields of the showground and they were absolutely full of rabbits - they were enchanting to watch as we sat sipping a welcoming cup of tea.

More rabbits - wild ones this time.

The village itself is so pretty and we had an evening stroll around the centre with its thatched cottages and down to the river which was so still and peaceful in the evening air; we stood and watched the dragonflies skimming across the surface of the water. Henry Royce co-founder of the Rolls Royce Motor Car Company was born here and is buried at the church of St Andrews in the village.

The Cuckoo Hotel

Beautiful thatched cottages

Down by the River Nene

It was time to wander back as we had a long and busy time ahead of us the next day.

8 comments:

  1. What a delightful setting
    The Ural owl is a beauty, I am not sure I have ever seen one before.
    Thanks for sharing him/her

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  2. Owls and rabbits!! Rabbits and owls!! A truly perfect day.

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  3. Such pretty English scenes ...so nice for me to wake up to. I'm very very fond of rabbits too!

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  4. A nice day out, the owl is rather splendid and that scene by the River Nene is beautiful.

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  5. My Grandad was from Lincolnshire and he used to take me and my Grandma to the tulip parade in Spalding every year - do they still have it? You have mnade me want to visit that bit of the country again. Love your photo's and I love the way we always get a history and a nature lesson. Perfect.

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  6. Thanks everyone for your comments - the owl is lovely isn't he?

    Diane, to answer your question - yes they do still have it though not in the same format or indeed the same length of parade route. Last year was 50 years and the organisers said - no more, but a group of civic minded people joined together and organised one and apparently it was quite succesful. The tulip fields were fast disappearing when we moved there in the mid eighties so things were changing then - nothing like the heyday of the 50s and 60s:)

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  7. How I love owls...and rabbits too...The Cuckoo hotel...The things you can imagine going on in there....a bit like Falwty Towers..:)

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