Iffley-on-Thames

On our fifth morning, Doco and I headed south along the Thames footpath, starting from  the Folly Bridge (near "home"), with Iffley as our destination.  Douglas and Candy biked along the footpath to join us at the church and for a pub lunch at the "Prince of Wales".

First sight - the Oxford colleges' boat-houses, home of the rowing crews.  Before 8am each morning, as I returned from walking with Molly to her bus in the early dawn, this patch of river was full of "fours" and "eights", with lights on bow and stern.  Now, at 10am, the rowers were presumably all at their studies - the river was empty, but for one solitary rower.

Second sight - a colourful canal boat  

Third sight (as we neared Iffley Lock) - a parade of defending geese ...  

… but not much canal-boat traffic through the Lock in December

Iffley on a hill - a picturesque village, known for its Norman church (1170 AD) ...

… not only a church but also a fortress - see the slits

round window, rounded arches ...

… with bird beaks surrounding

Romanesque (Norman) interior

"Tree of Life" by John Piper (1995)

then, lovely colours in a tiled village roof

and another running of the "goose-gauntlet" on the return walk