Shrewsbury by land and a trip on the bike around Heyford

I left my parents by 1000hrs with Kim, my younger daughter, heading for an appointment in Shrewsbury.  We met up with my eldest daughter Lisa for lunch, as she works in the town. 

Another very positive experience was had in a pub called 'The Armoury', right alongside the River Severn, and run by a chain called 'Brunning and Price'.  Once again, the venue was great, but it was the attitude and welcome from the people that really made it an enjoyable and memorable experience.  Spending over an hour with both of my daughters was also a rare pleasure - we don't get the chance to be together very often as we all live so far away from each other - but we appreciate any precious time we do get.

 Inside 'The Armoury' - bookcases adorn many of the walls

 Kimberley, Lisa and Sandra - having a coffee 'on the house' due to a lack of rocket for the salmon sandwiches - what a friendly manager!

Whilst I was out I had a call from 'Canal Boat' magazine regarding an article and photos I'd submitted in June, for their 'Me and My Boat' feature.  I was really pleased and excited to hear they're planning on running a larger feature of us and wanted to meet up, so we arranged a time on Friday morning back at Northern Pride.

Barry, in the meantime, had a long bike ride around the Heyfords and Caulcott. It poured with rain all morning, though it's hard to believe it from the photos taken in the afternoon with such a bright blue sky ...

 The church at Upper Heyford

The church tower amongst the surrounding wooded fields 

There was a really strong wind blowing so out came Don's little tripod, producing this interesting effect with the corn - or could it be maize?

The Horse and Groom at Caulcott - winner of the CAMRA North Oxfordshire Pub of the Year 2010 - sadly closed in the afternoon

   The shortcut back to the village dissecting the wheat field ...

and check out the harvest - looks ready ...

but maybe not quite all of it!

Next journey was across the horse paddock ...

  then through the rapeseed crop - it's not easy cycling over the stalks ...

until reaching Lower Heyford again - and a welcome thirst-quenching stop-off at the pub

I arrived back in Lower Heyford just before 2200hrs, having been dropped off by Kim in Banbury, where we had an excellent meal at the Thai Orchid restaurant.

Barry had been to The Bell Inn with Emma, the daughter of the boat owner next door, and unfortunately they didn't quite make it to the station in time to collect me so I had a solitary walk along the towpath back to a locked boat! But they soon arrived to rescue me so all was OK - a long but valuable day for us both.

Hanging basket from somewhere in the village