| Day 11 - Cotswolds |
| After a hearty breakfast and good company around the table we headed towards Cheltenham through the villages of Woodmancote, Colesbourne and Upper Coberley. Cheltenham has that neo-classical look to it and is worth stopping to take in the sights which include the High Street, the Imperial Gardens, Sandford Park, Montpellier Gardens, the Promenade and, just out of town, the Pittville Pump Room and Park. From Cheltenham we travelled through Shurdington on the way to Painswick. A walk through Painswick is very rewarding - St Mary's Church and the 99 yew trees are now a well known attraction, but also worth a look are the Court House and Painswick House. We liked the punishment stocks in which you can have your photo taken. We then passed through Stroud and Chalford before having lunch at Cirencester. Here you can visit the peaceful and very green Cirencester Park, the Corinium Museum and the Church of St John Baptist. Cirencester is an historic Roman town and there are plenty of Roman reminders to investigate. We then travelled on through Fairford until our next stop at Lechlade on the Thames. This village has excellent shops, including a delightful Christmas Shop, which has a huge range of christmas gifts and decorations. Don't miss seeing the river and the old stone bridge. Our route then took us through Burford and Aldsworth to Bibury. Bibury is for many people the ultimate postcard village in the Cotswolds - there are certainly plenty of excellent photo opportunities including the Trout Farm, the Swan Hotel and Arlington Row which is about 300 yards down the road across the river. We took so many photos and used the video camera so much at Bibury that we ran out of both film and tape. We then returned to our cottage B&B in Chedworth via some of the prettiest countryside we saw on our trip - water meadows so lush that you wanted to take your shoes off and just tear around. Travelling on this day was fairly relaxed with more time to make short and long stops. A slow wander around our end of the three mile long village of Chedworth was followed by yet another memorable meal at a nearby pub. |
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