Photos from walk on Thursday 13th June from Northmoor to Appleton

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A cold, grey and windy day! Summer?

 

Several fields were still full of buttercups

The paths through the woods were very muddy, and one field was sodden, but this one was parched dry.

 

We crossed the Thames at Hart’s Weir Footbridge.

 

We were last here in December 2022 when it was very cold. Read about that walk for more details about the bridge, and Northmoor lock.

 

The bridge was built in 1879 on the site of a weir that was removed a year later. Sixteen years later Northmoor Lock was built downstream. We recalled that the bridge was made of concrete and wondered when concrete was invented. Well, modern Portland Cement started production in the 1860’s, having been invented in 1824. A precursor to concrete was invented in about 1300 BC, and used by Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Chinese cultures. Earlier use of concrete goes back to maybe 7000 BC. The very word concrete comes from the Latin ‘concretus’, meaning grown together or compounded. [source 1, source 2]

 

Roots by stream – edge of Holt Copse

 

We’ve been to St Laurence Church, Appleton several times. There’s more about the building in the walk details from April 2023.

 

This is the west end door

 

The wall along Church Lane

 

In Badswell Lane, contiguous tile, thatch, glass and slate roofs

 

Nearby, at #22, the listed building had the date 16 TS1 90 on the wall. No idea what the TS1 stands for.

 

The weir at Northmoor Lock

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