Still in Stratford

I'm excited! We have our first flower on the courgette plant. I haven't grown these before so it's a bit of an experiment as to whether or not they'll grow on the roof.

There’s a large flock of  juvenile swans on the river, we’ve counted over 60, presided over by a large male (cob). They swim downstream as a flock, getting almost as far as the chain ferry, and are then herded back upstream by the cob in full display mode. This happens several times a day, mainly in the evenings, and is quite a sight! He’s obviously on chaperone duty and doesn’t stand for any messing about from stragglers, getting quite hissy at times. It’s a bit like a teacher with teenagers on a school outing.

There’s been a charity market/carnival in aid of Shakespeare’s Hospice today on the field right beside our mooring. They came at 7.00 and set up the stalls, Punch & Judy show, bouncy castles, hog roast & burger vans and then at 11.00 there was a mass ‘Zumba’ class. About 70 women of all ages doing a very energetic workout that made me tired just watching. After that there was a display by the local belly dancers, Roger said he’s never seen so much wobbling flesh  before! I thought they were very brave, baring so much in front of a large audience. Hopefully they raised lots of money for a well deserving cause.

We had a walk up to the Rother Market later this afternoon. There weren’t many stalls and most were selling jewellery but the market was set up right beside the most beautiful clock tower which was donated by an American in 1887 to celebrate Queen Victoria’s jubilee.

The night time view from our mooring is quite spectacular as the RSC Theatre, Bancroft Basin and the bridges across the river are all illuminated.