The faint hum that has been in the background, for more than 6 months now…. is gone.
I’m on the Northampton/Warwickshire border.
Northampton/Warwickshire border in Braunston
My boat’s pointing toward Oxford… You can see the border there, about 100 feet away.
It’s very quite here. Very much quieter than it’s been for a long-long time. Although Flore was kind of quite, it didn’t have the stillness of the countryside.
Close to the lost village. Apparently lost during the time of the black death. As so much of the population was destroyed at this time, many small villages ceased to exist. Their residents turned into zombies. Muscottities still haunt the hills and dales near the M1. I even heard it was them that put up the windmills…. Although that could be ‘fake news’… Windmills cause cancer… We all know that…
I used to call it ‘Muscott’, but it’s much closer to ‘Brockhall’ than the deserted village of Muscott.
One of the residents, or I assume it was one of the residents, accosted me whilst walking through the hamlet of Brockhall 2 nights ago.
Brockhall busy body
The road across from Brockhall to Long Buckby is what’s known as a ‘gated road’. It’s a rural kind of road with free roaming cattle and two gates or cattle grids at either end.
This road takes in the lost village of Muscott, skirts across a couple of hill tops, then goes through the hamlet of Brockhall.
Brockhall itself used to be home to a large manor house, Brockhall Hall, which due to lack of an heir, was sold off in 1969 and re-developed over the course of time into a set of self contained flats.
This large manor is set opposite Brockhall Manor, a large and still functioning farm operation, with a few thatched crofters cottages set in between.
Brockhall Northamptonshire
Just prior to these cottages is the gate leading toward Buckby and the canal.
Now into the third fortnight, sixth week of official lockdown figures.
Whisky
I have taken up drinking whisky. Under the circumstances, it seems like the only sensible thing to do…
Over the last 3 weeks I’ve bought the following single malt whiskies.
Cardhu Gold Reserve – £25 (Tesco)
Cardhu Single – Gold Reserve
After checking online reviews, I bought this one whilst in Tesco. It’s a single malt, Speyside, 12 years matured. The reviews seemed mostly positive at a quick scan whilst in the aisles… Getting it home, I felt the packaging a bit bulky maybe even a bit tacky. Overstated may be a better word… After a few sips, I found it a bit sweet, less smokey, complex flavors, a bit more up-front. Made it a bit more-ish, but I don’t think I’d buy it again. Bit of a novelty perhaps. Not sure why it got all the good reviews. Glad I got it on offer. Not something I’d pay full price for.
Initially, I was quite impressed with the strong flavor. It’s quite strong and heady and it does have that lingering smokiness and smoothness which seems to be the hallmark of most of the Speyside whiskies out there.
I’ve not finished this one yet. It is quite strong, flavor and alcohol wise, it’s not something you’d drink in a rush. So it’s still around.
Aldi – Glen Marnoch Highland – £17.98
This one is one of three single malts sourced exclusively by Aldi.
Like many Aldi items, the quality is surprisingly good, better even than higher priced similar products.
In fact, having tasted all three single malts that Aldi currently sell in store, I would say that they are a better, more satisfying whisky.
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