Arriving at Wallingford you have great expectations but mooring is a problem. First of all, there are limited moorings on the town side and these have to be paid for and on the opposite bank, the Crowmarsh side, there are again more council moorings but these are situated next to a public campsite, which tends to encourage the Blackpool Kiss me Quick hat brigade. The pub next to the bridge called the Boat house has as much character as a soggy cardboard box and the price of the beers is exorbitant.
When you walk from the river towards the town you pass through the town centre of Wallingford which has the feel of a typical old market town. The large open market square consisting of a war memorial, a 17th century arcaded town hall and a church, St Mary-le-More. The square is flanked by numerous independent shops. There is also a statute of a heron encapsulated in a water fountain like structure and this appears to have significance at all.
The town is famous for a number of characters. King Alfred the Great, of burning cake famed built the castle here to defend himself against the Viking raiders. Dick Turpin , the highway mean used to frequent the George and that super sleuth the Agatha Christie lived on the outskirts of the town.
Agatha Christie was a bundle of fun, she never drank, and never smoked, disproved of sexual matters being discussed in open but she did like dogs. After her husband had gone off with a younger model, she herself created a mystery of her own by vanishing for an eleven day period.
Dick Turpin apparently used the George for resting, periods between his bouts of highway robbery. It was said that he was the instigator of the chat line to young maidens” My name’s Dick, do you like it?
Wallingford , fictionally speaking, must have the highest murder rate be capita of anywhere in the world , since it is often featured in “The Midsomer Murders”
No comments:
Post a Comment