I'd been away last weekend, arriving back at Rugby by train on Sunday, but then found no bus service to Braunston and my boat. Luckily it was a beautiful sunny day, so I went to the library and photocopied a bit of the ordnance survey map (apparently you are allowed to photocopy only one A4 page of an OS map, but my hand slipped and I pressed A3 instead, which fortunately covered the whole area I needed ;-) I found a disused railway to follow. To begin with, it was a public footpath and easy to walk, but then that part ended and thick brambles and face-high nettles followed. I was too stubborn to turn back so threaded my way through at a snail's pace. Took ages but it felt like being an explorer and I emerged, not too stung and scratched at this bridge over a motorway where someone had written a poem..
'A branch shorn of leaves. A raven perching on it. This autumn evening'
Back on the towpath, I couldn't believe this bridge was still in the same state since I last saw it - must have been in 2007?
Before leaving Braunston, I managed to gather plenty of lime blossom - the last I think, before the flowers turn to fuits. It smells wonderful drying on the boat!
Now I'm at Long Itchington on the GU Warwick section or whatever it's called, having shared plenty of locks with the same pleasant couple on nb Silkwood. Always useful to share the work with people who work well as a team and are nice to chat to. I couldn't resist pausing to take a photo of this boat I really liked the look of,
though I'm kicking myself for not having a camera to hand at Norton junction for a seriously gorgeous old work boat moored there. I'll be sure to get a good photo when I next go past!
9 comments:
more graffiti should
be written in haiku; more
thinking, less writing
x
Which was the boat at Norton
Junction? If you want, I can try to get you a picture. I should be going that way on Friday.
What are you going to do with the lime blossom? We have a garden covered with them - we usually curse them - so having a use for them would be good :-)
Kath (nb Herbie)
Hi Kath! I cut them off the tree (the flower part and the two attached leaflets, dry them for a couple of weeks and scrunch them into jam jars and make tea/infusions from them - you know, just steep em in boiling water for 5 mins, filter and drink. The French drink a lot of this - called 'tilleul' especially before bed, helps you relax and sleep well. Here's a link: http://www.harney.com/Tilleul/products/150/
though there are bound to be better ones..
Only thing about gathering them now is that they tend to have more insects than earlier in the season, but good shakings and drying properly should reduce the competition.
Hope all's well with Joe now, by the way.
Carrie x
Tony - thanks, but that's ok, I'll be going past there in a week or two myself. But do see if you can spot which one I mean ;-) Don't even know the name but it's half cabin, half hold, has a high bow and a battered grey appearance and is/was moored with other bw dredger-type flats in front of a house right on the junction (will be on your left if you're going straight ahead on the GU)
Enjoy the tunnel of doooom!
- Carrie
Hey Simon, what are you suggesting, cheeky! Never tell a blogger 'more thinking, less writing'!! x
I meant the graffiti, not the blog!
;-) x
Hey, I've just been past the poem on the bridge, me and my husband loved it and just found your blog when trying to find out about it, such a lovely piece of graffiti! X
Thank you for your information on the Great Central Railway Bridge's haiku.
I have left a link to your page in my Flickr account http://www.flickr.com/photos/75931071@N03/7721219386/in/photostream.
Simon Marshall
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