Northamptonshire & Warwickshire

In a whirlwind road tour of Northamptonshire & Warwickshire last weekend, Aileen, Francis, Yoke Lim, Sophie & I covered, let's see... 11 towns/villages and sights too numerous to count. Some of them are fleeting scenes (e.g. Rugby), while at others, we lingered to our hearts' content (e.g. Oundle).

At the risk of boring everyone with the details, here are places we can now strike off our 'To See' list:

Northampton
- Quick 20-minute tour of the shoe museum
- Quick 10 minute stroll around the compound of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of 4 round churches in England

Wellingborough
- Picked up the 19" Sony PC monitor that YL bought from ebay from a computer warehouse

Oundle
- Checked out their weekly Saturday farmers' market & had ostrich burger for lunch
- Francis played tour guide & led us around some important buildings around the town center. Which reminds me, we need to tip the guy.

Church of Holy Sepulchre in Oundle

Rothwell
- Enroute to Rushton, we stopped here because the boys were in a kaypoh mood and wanted to see where a crowd of people were heading
- Quick tour of the Holy Trinity Church where visiting bell ringers from Colchester were showing off their skills at the church's full set of 10 bells. And that was the cause of the commotion.

Rushton
- 'Tricked' into paying GBP2.40 each to see a very compact building, simply known as the Rushton Triangular Lodge. Francis got away with a concession fee. Built in the 16th century by Sir Thomas Tresham as a sign of protest against the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I, and whose family was eventually implicated in the Gunpowder Plot, its walls were covered with puzzling letters, numbers and other religious symbols. Francis commented that it would make a great subject for Dan Brown's novel.

Brixworth
- Quick stop to see the All Saints' Church build on ancient Roman foundations.

Rugby
- Drove through on the way to our farmhouse B&B near the village of Church Lawford.
- And yes, the game was invented here.

Coventry
- Another quick stop along the way to Warwick to see an ancient Roman fort. Aileen & I stayed in the car because we were both still stoning in the morning, but the boys got off to wander around. They ran off when confronted by the lady who miraculously appeared from a barn that is supposed to be the ticket booth. All to save 2 pounds each. Tsk tsk, and you call them Doctors...

Stoneleigh
- Beautiful 690 acres of parkland surrounding the Stoneleigh Abbey were Jane Austen was inspired to write Mansfield Abbey, and where Queen Victoria once stayed.
- Aileen was particularly excited by the sheeps that were grazing and seeking refuge from the scorching sun under a big tree.

Warwick
- Charming little town with a village feel, very small & manageable.
- Warwick Castle looked like a lot of fun, and it would bound to be, since it's owned by Madame Tussauds, but we will save it for another day. We walked around the outer compound and managed to find a spot to take a picture with the castle towers in the background. As far as anyone is concerened, we've 'done' Warwick Castle...shhhh

Stratford upon Avon
- Shakepeare's birthplace and every attraction in this surprisingly modern town is connected to him.
- Being the cheapskates that we are, we didn't pay for entrance to any of the sights, but simply loitered outside them & took pictures so that we can say we've been there, done that. And no one's any wiser....

In front of Anne Hathaway's (Shakespeare's wife) cottage

In front of Shakespeare's birthplace

Church Lawford
- The farmhouse that we stayed in was very pleasant, very clean & very comfortable. Owned by the same family for 5 generations, it has a very charming garden & that historic character. Phew! After calling up 20+ B&B's and finding out that they were booked for the British F1 Grand Prix, I'm glad that this one wasn't available because of any undesirable features.

Breakfast at Lawford Hill Farm, our Bed & Breakfast

Sophie was generally easy, save for the last few hours, after we left the county and were on the way to Heathrow Airport to pick up Christine aka Mrs Pong who just returned from KL. To be fair, she must be very tired from all the travelling....

All in all, a very hectic but satisfying weekend.