Falconry and Bourton on the Water

The immediate entertainment on return to Cats Abbey was the Australia v England match. (Due to England changing the arrangements we could not buy Australian pool matches as a block as has occurred in earlier RWCs so none us were able to get tickets for the game. We did invite some of the locals into Cats Abbey to encourage banter which worked really well. Anticipation before the match

included a three generation cuddle.

And what a result Australia 33 England 13. With Wales beating England the previous week this meant this was the first time a host country had not get through to the knock out rounds. Sooo sad….

Cats Abbey is in the middle of so many delightful villages. One of the best know is Bourton on the Water. The river through the town is crossed by many simple stone bridges the views of which were enhanced by the Autumnal colours.

Thanks to being later in the year the visitor numbers were at pleasant levels.

One of the attractions was a model village of Bourton on the Water. Started in 1934 it is heritage listed and in contrast to the colourful Leggo land (see September blog) the buildings are all built of local stone suitably scaled. As the model is of the village there is a model village within the model …..etc.

The model church has stained glass windows which I photographed through a larger viewing window. The result was a little unexpected but at least there is proof that I am on this trip!

While the girls did some shopping it was time to burn off some energy with a game of tips. It was a good deal of fun and exhausting but the highlight was when Dad was “in” and went a little too hard close to the river. A quick choice had to be made whether to fall in headlong or try to walk on water. The latter was attempted but resulted in a walk in the water. At least three of us really enjoyed this experience.

Amongst the many nearby attractions was a bird of prey centre. There were more tha 100 birds and many are used in displays. With the fast moving birds I took over 1000 shots so quite a bit of culling was required.

One of the Falcons on display was specifically bred for Falconry and was a cross between a Gyr (large bird) and Saker (good hunter) Falcons.

The red kite is suitably named.

The Peregrine Falcon is a popular breed and this one really put on a great display albeit one of the smaller birds.

Meanwhile moving to one of the larger breeds this Bald Eagle was great to get up and personal with. We were instructed to hold our arm out and when the bird was settled bring your elbow in as they are pretty heavy. The key it to be steady

 Or you end up wearing an eagle hat. 

Against a green background they are magnificent.

As mentioned I have many shots of the birds that were in the shows but thought this series of Crystal the Snowy Owl captured many of the angles of flight that were on display.

 The range of the wing beat is much larger than I had appreciated.

 But gliding close to the ground at speed is the most spectacular.

Then of course the reward. Perhaps the least elegant aspect.

One of the popular ones with the children, as it is smaller, was the Vermiculated Owl which happily landed on their outstretched arms.

The key was to keep your arm straight and still. Not so easy when your instinct is to duck.

When it is done right the owl happily fed on the arm.

Close up they are quite striking.

One of the Peregrines had a wonderful time swooping in and out of the audience. My time to duck! 

Most of the birds have names. This is Guy who is a Bateleur Eagle from Africa in the Middle East (well he was actually born at the centre).

We enjoyed the afternoon dispay so much we stayed on for the last display of the day.

One of the targets of the larger birds (and us humans) are pheasant. The Cottswolds has a plentiful supply and we saw hundreds in a field on the way to visit the nearby Roman ruins. They are colourful and look inviting.

We eventually bought pheasant stuffed with venison and red current jelly from a butcher in Stow for our evening meal. A new but really enjoyed experience for us all.

 

Meanwhile the ruins were also colourful thanks to some large mosaics. They are housed in a new building that has been built over the top of them and viewing is from a suspended floor. The mosaics, and layout such as the latrines were a smaller version of what we had seen in Ephesus.

The children were supplied with a back pack of activities and equipment including magnifiers and containers for bugs. We also had our personal guide.

The Llangollen canal

As occurred in 2007 there was a mob desirous of a week narrow boating. We opted for the very picturesque Llangollen canal with Black Prince operating out of Chirk. We arrived on Saturday and stayed in the marina so as to go to the local boat house (in the background) to watch the Wales England game. What a match with the Welsh just prevailing 28 – 25. The Pommie publican was less than amused but his Welsh Clientele were drunkenly ecstatic. ("Never mind what else happens in the RWC we beat the English.")

The following day set a precedence for the week. Calm, cool, reflective mornings and balmy sunny days. The Sunday was spent travelling to see Australia v Uruguay at the Aston Villa ground (65 – 3).

We got back in time to travel up the cut for an hour and the following day set off for Chirk castle. A great walk across the fields.

Inside Michael and the boys were taken by the firearms.

 

Whereas I was more impressed with the log water pipe from early 1600.

The Llangollen is spectacular and includes the 38 metre high Pontcysyllte aqueduct built in 1795. It is quite a weird feeling as the boat deck is level with the wall of the aqueduct and you are less than a foot to stepping off over the edge. The boat’s shadow helps with the scale of the drop.

The end of the canal is at Llangollen where we overnighted. We walked up to the source of the canal which is Horseshoe falls. A little less dramatic than those of the same name we saw last year at Niagara.

Llangollen is particularly beautiful where it straddles the River Dee.

There are quite a few attractions one of which is a heritage train which we had to travel on.

All aboard looked quite relaxed

Clearly they had no idea who was in control up front.

We had a flotilla of three boats and hogged the aqueduct on the way back.

Mind you the canal has so many photo opportunities

although it is not all relaxing. Here the boys really put the backs into working the locks

While the girls rest their bottoms…..

others in the team thought they were Royalty and practiced their wave to the lock operators (and anyone else who was around).

While some played, others learnt the art of helming and at the end of the week could competently relieve Dad. 

The week went very quickly indeed and rather than rush back to the marina that after our last lock we would enjoy the sun setting. The chairs and cushions were laid out, a table made out of buckets and a water locker cover and then plenty of cheese, biscuits and wine. How good can it get?

The sunset was glorious and gave rise to this peaceful shot

Along with our own modern day Neptune who had looked over the weeks adventures.

Once the sun had set the mist crept in and produced a mystical landscape.

With the days being cooler the mist took quite a time to clear but the Chirk aqueduct adjoining the railway viaduct was nonetheless very impressive looming out of the gloom.

A brilliant week made even better thanks to weather that exceeded all our expectations.