Sunny Sunday in the Cotswolds

Anna and I, together with Selina and Rachel, went on a daytrip to the "Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty", a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the "Heart of England". It certainly was very picturesque, and we had probably the best weekend of the summer so far.

Our first destination was Burford (from the Old English burh meaning fortified town, and ford).

A popular spot for antiques shops - one for every 33 residents - its most notable sight is the 15th C Norman parish church. There was a great graveyard, with lots of interesting carved tombstones.

I just about took a dip in the nearby River Windrush, but was dissuaded at the last minute. Instead I visited the little museum (originally the Tolsey wool centre) and bought some fudge and boiled lollies at the sweet shop.

According to wikipedia, the GI Joe character "Big Ben" was from Burford.

Next stop, Stow-on-the-wold, an historic market town.

We lost most of our time here eating a somewhat average pub lunch at the plain end of town (whoops!) but we did have time to take a turn in the stocks.

Stow's chief claim to history is its role in the English Civil War. A number of fights took place around the area, the local church of St. Edward being damaged in one such skirmish. On 21 March 1646, the Royalists, commanded by Sir Jacob Astley, were defeated at Stow, with hundreds of prisoners being confined for some time in St. Edwards.

Our last stop was Bourton-on-the-water, known as the "Venice of the Cotswolds". It was a very pretty, though exceedingly tourist-busy place, which I found quite familiar. I wonder whether we came here, or to a similar town, on the great Travis family UK tour of '84?

The mighty River Windrush hurtles through the middle of this town as well. In all honesty, it's actually a sedate little thing, only running a couple of feet deep. It's spanned by a plethora of wee footbridges and, when were there, was home to lots of small children with butterfly nets. (Catching leaves perhaps?)

We did our tourist duty and visited some of the attractions. The first was the Dragonfly Maze, a yew maze designed by Kit Williams (of Masquerade fame). The object is not only to reach the pavilion at the centre, but to gather clues to access the maze's final secret. (Which I just spoiled here...)

The second was a disappointing an over-priced 1:10 model village (at the Old New Inn), which did at least feature a model of the model in the model.

Time for a nap on the long bus ride back into London!