A Few Days at Napton on the Hill (South Oxford Canal)

Sunday 26^th, Monday 27^th, Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29^th July

We are staying here in Napton for a few days as Mavis and Dad are sending me my birthday cards to the Post Office in the village which is great so I get my cards, we are very grateful to our own special PM (Post Mistress!).  I had several cards sent to my Dads and I received lots of texts and messages on face book so thanks to everyone who sent one, they were all lovely.

The Folly pub

This is a nice place to spend a few days, there is a nice pub called The Folly where we had lunch on Tuesday and it was really good.  Kev had the homemade Chicken, Bacon and Mushroom pie which was very tasty.  I had the horseshoe gammon steak which was really good as well.

Up in the village is the shop/café/post office www.naptonvillagestores.co.uk  and it has to be one of the best village shops we have come across selling lots of lovely things and the café is really good and the staff are great, nothing is too much trouble.  

Water Buffalo at Napton

They sell Water Buffalo sausages from a farm in Napton www.waterbuffalo.co.uk  and the buffalos are in a field by the locks.  Apparently a couple of summers ago one of the buffalos got into the canal and couldn’t get out even with help from the farmer so what they did was to get him into the lock, drop the lock down and then got him out as the bank was lower there, he got back into the field, that would have been a sight to see, but when we saw them they were all safely in the field.  The sausages were delicious and they are gluten free, they were very different from pork sausages, they were almost melted when you ate them, but really tasty.

There is also a farm up the hill in Napton that has rare breed pigs, Tamworth crossed with a Duroc and provides the shop with pork sausages, burgers, etc.  They are called Red Banger, www.redbanger.com.  We went up to the shop today to buy some but there wasn’t any in the fridge.  We were staying to have a coffee and a piece of cake so we asked at the counter if they had any more of the sausages, she said we will ring the farmer, he’s just up the road and get him to bring some down.  Well, they rang him up and he said he was just packing some up and would come down with them in about 15 minutes.  We got a coffee and sure enough, the farmer turned up with a pack for us, how’s that for service!  We have put them in the freezer and will have them in a few days time, hope they taste as good as they look.

We have really enjoyed our time in Napton and will be sad to leave, but it is time to move on, so tomorrow we are chugging off back up to the junction then it will be on to pastures new.

Inside the Village Stores

The Village Stores at Napton