Blog-on-the-'Wolds

Like hand-delivering a post card to a loved one, I'm sitting in our living room in the 'Couv reminiscing about a lovely 2 day trip Steve and I took through the Cotswolds less than a week ago.  It's a baffling feeling to think that just 5 short days ago, we were driving through villages one could miss if they blinked, whilst bookended by sheep in passing fields.  Now we're home and as I write, I smell the sweet aroma of fresh paint from our bedroom as we dive back into putting our apartment together (having moved a little over one month ago, as shared in this posting).  I think Steve got the (pardon me) shit end of the stick, as he's the one getting Pacific Pine green dribbled all over him and I'm the one assigned to sitting in a comfy chair and writing about our excursion, but I'll see if I can do some extra cleaning when he sits down to write more about our trip in a couple of days.

The scene above is a typical view out the tiny car window of a town in the Cotswolds, a county about 1.5 hours northwest of London, and stuck about 1.5 centuries back in time.  My Bubs and Zayds had been talking about the thatched roofs and brown brick for a couple of months now as we've been planning our trip to London, and I'm happy to say the combination of their suggestion to visit the Cotswolds and my aunt and uncle's long list of little towns to drive through made for a remarkable 2 days in the country.  You've already heard about our jaunt to Oxford in our previous post, so now I'm reporting on the rest of the trip.

It was lovely taking turns as navigator as we wound our way through the villages.  Rather than following street names, we were pointed in the direction of one town or another by signs that listed the name of towns and the distances to them.  Though we had some suggestions of places to visit, we quite literally stumbled upon towns with lovely names such as Moreton-on-the-Marsh or Bourton-on-the-Hill or Stow-on-the-Wold (incidentally, through deductive reasoning, we determined that "wold" is indeed a "hill").  We wandered around some of the towns which generally consisted of one mammoth cathedral, one quaint pub, and a smattering of cottages that each had equally precious names (see right) to the towns they were in. 

We were fortunate to hit one final stop-off just as the sun was setting, illuminating the gorgeous cathedral in the town of Churchill.  Needless to say, we took full advantage of the "golden light phenomenon" (thank you, Gabe, for the term), and snapped many shots of the town center (see below).

 

We spent the night in the the above-mentioned town, Stow-on-the-Wold.  This proved to be one of the larger towns that we happened upon and at the quick hands of my aunt Laura the night before, we found an amazing deal on lastminute.com for a B & B called Fosse Manor House.  The accommodations were delightful, the gardens unique (see the garden nymph I fell in love with in the photo below), the soaker tub deep, and the proper English breakfast delicious.  Before drifting off to sleep in the 1800s former home of a King Edward III descendant, we wandered the town, passing small footpaths/alleys between the brick buildings, the oldest hotel in England (dating back to 947 C.E.), and of course, the town cathedral.

 

When not hugging the opposite curb than we are used to here in Canadia, letting huge lorries (aka trucks) pass us on the small roads, we enjoyed locating towns in the distance by their spires and witnessing the wildlife that populates the area (quail, grouse, sheep, badgers, etc.)

 

After a few more stops the second day of our travels through lovely towns on their respective rivers, wolds, hills, marshes, etc., we made our way to Sudeley Castle in the town of Winchcombe.  We found the castle closed until spring, though it did not prevent us from walking the half-mile in the snow to discover the 12th century (in parts) castle.  Part of the castle was in ruins (which I later learned was from Thomas Cromwell's order to destroy it in the 16th century) though it was later restored in the mid-1800s, first becoming a place of residence by a Worcestershire glove company and to this day is a country home to a couple of noble families.  We happened to catch it when the fams were out of town, allowing us the liberty to walk around the grounds, snap a few shots, and then trudge our way back through the snow to warm up at a local pub before braving the elements on the long ride home to London.

 

 

My New England upbringing was put to the test as we attempted to drive home through the blinding snow.  The rest of the Cotswolds-ites, the majority of which abandoned their cars on the side of the road and walked to the nearest town, calmed their driving nerves with a pint or two, cheered us on as we drove, or probably just waited out the several-day storm until they could dig their little bicycle-tired cars out of the snow bank.

Overall, a fabulous trip into Britain's history and a real treat for those willing to be a little adventurous with a map and a put-put car.  Per my mom's request, this post was loaded with photos as well as text - a little something to please everyone, for those willing to venture forth. :)