Palm Sunday

Today's Canal : Oxford

We moored just below Hillmorton Locks last night so that we could go to the morning service at the parish church just a few minutes walk away.

This is clearly an old building but the present congregation try to make the form of worship to be modern in style and accessible to all ages, although there were only one or two young children today. The service was led by a combination of clergy and lay leaders - a good sign as the current incumbent vicar will be leaving the parish shortly.

Afterwards we had a little time to look around the inside of the church - there is the usual array of wall mounted memorial tablets, erected in memory of the wealthier part of society.

An effigy and sarcophagus of Sir Thomas de Astley is in the north aisle. He died in the battle of Evesham on 4th August 1265. In the wake of the Magna Carta, Simon de Montfort had taken control of government  along with many Barons and their rebellious allies. However, Prince Edward, later King Edward I, formed an army to restore power to his father, Henry III who had been imprisoned by te rebels. The Prince's army was able to overwhelm the rebels at Evesham in what turned out to be a massacre.

On the wall beside the chancel steps is a memorial to Rev Maurice Banastre Pix, described as Curate. Although at one time this was often the title of the parish priest, by the time of his death, aged 25, it is likely that he had yet to gain a proper living and so was here as an assistant. His father, Henry Pix, was married to Adelaide Louise, was born in Kentucky in US. The marriage took place in Marlborough, Wiltshire where she was born and raised.

We walked back to the boat for a late morning coffee but by now the promised wind and rain was arriving and we opted to stay put rather than attempt the three Hillmorton locks in such unpleasant conditions! At least it gave a chance to see how the new battery performed with a day off from cruising. We did run the engine for a while until we worked out how to see what the level of charge was. So far the voltage level has always been well over 13V, so much better than we ever achieved consistently before.

0 Miles - 0 Locks