Here’s a few shots from last week. There's a bit of a theme...

This is the Pebble Alcove in the 18th Century gardens of Stowe. It was built in about 1737 and decorated like an Italian grotto; coloured pebbles are set into the rendering. It’s very charming, and as we found on a family picnic, the alcove is practical too; it can hold quite a few people when it rains.

Later that day I was at Willen in Milton Keynes, for Hiroshima Day the 6th August each year. Usually the lantern ceremony is up at the Peace Pagoda, (in the background) then the lanterns are taken down the steps and floated out on to the Lake. This year, because of the dodgy weather, the ceremony was in the temple.
I stood and waited for the lantern procession and watched the cyclists.

Tales From The Edge
This is an occasional series where I go to the edge of North Bucks and show you what I've found.

Placing the rope's centre marker.

I don’t often return to a location two weeks in a row, but sometimes it’s to show you something that’s too good to miss, so here we are back at Ickford, in the bottom left corner of the North Bucks Wanderer’s area map.

Ickford's Southern parish boundary is also the county boundary, and it’s the river Thame. The Oxfordshire village of Tiddington shares this boundary, so naturally that’s where we’ll find the annual tug of war between the two villages.

Tales From The Edge
This is an occasional series where I go to the edge of North Bucks and show you what I've found.

Inside/outside the church.

Right on the bottom left hand edge of the North bucks area is the village of Ickford. You can walk half a mile South from the village towards Tiddington, but when you cross the 17th Century bridge over the River Thame you’ll find yourself in Oxfordshire. The river valley is shallow here, the land almost flat.

The Peace Pagoda Ceremony

There’s quite a few ceremonies every year at the Peace Pagoda and Buddhist temple in Willen, Milton Keynes. A few weeks ago I was at this year’s Peace Pagoda Ceremony, the 39th.

I didn’t get there in time for the chanting and praying, but after lunch I saw the cultural part of the events, with both Indian and Hungarian dancers, and a Chinese dragon dance. Here are some photos. (You can scroll the gallery sideways)