Not much happened this week but I did get to go out one afternoon with Greg and Penny to Banbury which, as you probably know, is their main town about 8 miles away from Byfield which is the village they live in.

It's quite a nice town, Banbury, and certainly has a nice shopping precinct with lots of good shops. Penny bought about forty different outfits - pants, jeans, a couple of blouses, a coat - she says everything is so much cheaper in the sales!

Then, they took me up to the top of town to see Banbury Cross. I don't know if you have ever heard the old nursery rhyme:

Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross,
To see a fine lady ride on a white horse.
With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,
She shall have music wherever she goes.

Well, they took a photo of me in front of the present day Banbury Cross but it seems that there used to be three crosses in Banbury! Also, I didn't know it, but it seems that the "fine lady" mentioned in the nursery rhyme is actually supposed to be a "Fiennes lady" because the Fiennes were the really important local family, the descendents of whom still live in Broughton Castle which is just a couple of miles out of Banbury.

I'll bet you can't find out how tall the present day cross is nor who the statues are which are set into the cross (it seems there were supposed to be six but they reduced the number to three). You can find it at http://www.banbury-cross.co.uk/banhistory.htm but some of it might be quite hard reading.

Talk to you soon,

Your pal,

Flat Stanley