Day 255 - Market Overton

Our two week stay in Whitby has flown by! Phil and I both agree that this section of the trip has felt like we've only been here a few days. If nothing else, this trip away has us both agreeing that time is a strange phenomenon that we will never really come to grips with.

Today we're off to Market Overton in the lesser-known UK county of Rutland in the East Midlands. We staying at the home of June and Stuart who have been with us in Whitby for the past couple of days. They kindly agreed to drive us back to their place so we can join them in their villages annual feast on its small green.

Market Overton is truly one of the most idyllic of English villages. With a population of about 600, it has a locally run shop, a church and a pub all set amongst gorgeous stone homes set on rambling streets. The village as a whole is easy to walk around as it's relatively flat. However, it has the scenic advantage of being on an escarpment that overlooks the Vale of Catmose.

June and Stuart live in a house that was once the village's school. There is an older former school house around the corner from them. Directly across from them is a rather large home where Isaac Newton's maternal grandmother lived and where he would go to visit. His mother was born in the village in 1623. Perhaps it was an apple tree in her garden that set him thinking.

The village's annual feast was already set up and in full swing by the time we arrived. So time for lunch. Phil and I sat on the edge of the green and enjoyed a glass of Pimms and a burger as we watched most of the village wander past. June set up a table for a "name the tree" contest, the idea being for the local children to come up with a name for a Hornbeam tree newly planted on the green. The winner was Huckleberry Hornbeam, although we were going for Sir Hissac Newtree (names had to begin with an "H."

Off to the feast!

After lunch, we took a walk around the village to vote on the annual scarecrow contest that is part of the festivities. We had paid a pound for the map and chance to vote. This year's theme was around music, and there was some very clever creations: the Pied Piper leading a row of rats through someone's garden, ZZ Top, Michael Jackson, Pavarotti, Bob Marley...and a rather strange one of Spock on the X Factor (yeah...I don't get it either).

Somewhere on this walk I twisted my ankle in a pot hole, so limped back to the house to put ice on it. We'll see how this turns out.

Later in the afternoon, we went to the pub for a drink. Someone had moved a lot of the leather armchairs outside, making it a rather cosy spot to enjoy the beautiful summer day. Then it was back to Stuart and June's for dinner ... and the seemingly unending matches that make up the World Cup.