Tuesday 9 July 2013

Where the buffalo roam

"Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day."

Not Kansas but Napton where herds of buffalo roam the canalside fields and the skies certainly weren't cloudy all day today.
Napton is at the start – or end depending on which way you're going – of the Southern Oxford Canal which winds round the edge of Napton Hill and its landmark windmill before climbing the flight of locks to the canal summit.
We pulled up just before the locks for our now customary high noon siesta then set off for the stiff climb up the hill to the windmill. It's private but the view is stunning – a breathtaking panorama across seven counties.
Later, with some buffalo ice cream safely in the fridge we set off up the locks – stopping near the top for a 15 minute breather to hear The Archers (and a dramatic episode it was, too, at least by Archers standards).
Now moored up on the twisting summit stretch. Last night we watched two little owls, mother feed her young, in a tree. Tonight we've been watching fledgling swallows learn to fly and land. Can't beat it!


1 comment:

  1. Proper David Attenborough's aren't we! It has been a right old mix of a journey so far. BUT the big question what does Captain Brian have to report?

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