Sponsored walk for Northampton All Saints Church Choir: Fourth day update

Then the path followed a long loop of the river round the east side of Oundle to Ashton Mill. If Wellingborough is a town of swans, Oundle is a town of geese.Greylag Geese so far as Michael could tell, with orange beaks and brownish backs.there were several little groups of them on the river. Geese probably swim to look for food,but they seem to enjoy it as well.

Ashton Mill is one of those 18th or early 19th century water mills that abound on the banks of the Nene. It looked somewhat derelict and was boarded up on the ground floor. there were builders materials and a man in a van on the road side of the building so it may be that renovation is about to start. The village of Ashton looks pretty but the Tudor style thatched cottages built of local stone are perhaps too good to be true. Almost all of the buildings in Ashton were built for the local landowner Charles Rothschild in 1900. The mill is one of the small number of exceptions. The cottages were provided for the estate workers and Rothschild insisted that they all have fixed baths,although according to the village information board they were in the kitchen at first and bathrooms were not created until the 1920s. All the cottage gardens were provided with the same kinds of trees and horse chestnut trees were planted on the village green. These provided conkers for the World Conker Championship held at the pub (the Chequered Skipper) from 1965 to 2010. The pub, built in the same style as the cottages, is closed, we hope temporarily. Its not boarded up.

The path to Warmington is in some places a road a farm road with a tarmac surface, a farm road with a rough gritty surface,a farm road with a stony surface and a broad grassy path and it fords a stream (boots got wet.) There are by their song yellow hammers about but does anybody actually see them? and it leads to a narrow path into the village of Warmington,bounded with bluebells, red campion, cow parsley a blue flower not identified and so on.

Michael's walk is from All Saints Church, Northampton to Peterborough Cathedral. He left on Sunday 7th May and will arrive at Peterborough on Sunday 14th May. He is raising money for the Choir of All Saints Church, Northampton who are singing in Zaragoza Spain in July. If you would like to sponsor Michael,cheques can be sent to Michael Waterfield c/o All Saints Church, George Row, Northampton NN1 1DF. Please write "Michael's walk" on the back of the cheque. Alternatively use the "Just Giving" link https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/Zaragoza2023 . Most of the members of the choir are under 18.