Oundle to Wadenhoe And Back

With warm weather expected followed by a cool change, we took Patience up river to Wadenhoe on Wednesday and back on Thursday. This gave her a breath of fresh air, a bit of leisurely exercise on a sparkling and clear river and a change of scene.
Wadenhoe is a charming and attractive village, preserved by a Trust, and our interest is focused on The King's Head and its garden which rolls down to the river, near the lock. So popular is it that we had to moor alongside another boat for a while, with river edges at a premium.

On arrival at Wadenhoe and tying ourselves to another narrow boat, we headed up the slope to the bar for our choice of beers.
In the afternoon, torn between going for an improving walk or relaxing in the shade down by the riverside, we opted for the latter, while swimmers and canoeists floated energetically to and fro.
In the evening we indulged in some great food at The King's Head.

Thursday dawned misty on the river ...

... but we headed off for our walk (a modified version of the walk at Walking World id=5874 bypassing Sudborough but including Wadenhoe) of 7 - 8 miles roughly following the Lyveden Way to Lyveden New Bield (National Trust) where we found more of interest than we had expected...

... including a very pleasant coffee shop, useful information centre, replanted orchard, moat, lake and entry to the never-completed Elizabethan house built for Sir Thomas Tresham.

Our walk in bright sunshine took us across fields and through woodland, with no traffic, hardly any other people, and a sense of surprise that we were so far from the non-stop frenzy of the A14.

With deteriorating weather expected on Friday we headed home to Oundle reinforced by a substantial lunch at The Kings Head, very satisfied with our little trip.