Friday, Sept 20

Friday, September 20  Up Hills and Down Hills and All Around

We were all up and ready to go again by 10 or so this morning.  Everyone had a good night’s sleep and there were no downstairs magpies chattering away during the night this time.  We headed toward Cold Aston which turned out to be a nice little village with unique speed limits signs as shown in the photo.

 We then went to Notgrove Long Barrow and we turned in at the sign but didn’t notice the barrow right beside the large road.  We traveled down a dirt land, ignoring the sign Not fit for vehicles for a distance until I decided we shouldn’t go any further.  Several of us got out and walked further but finally gave up and went back to the car.  We back to the main road and noticed the hillock and the small fence leading to it. Sure enough, there was the barrow and we had passed it.  A couple of us got out of the car and walked around and over it.  Interesting, sort of.

We passed through Stow on the Wold, then rode to Moreton in Marsh (Don’t you just love the names of the villages???), then went back through Stow (and accidently found the square as we passed through the town again) and drove on to Lower Oddington.  We had reservations at the Fox Inn for lunch to celebrate Sarah’s birthday.   The food was very, very good and the waiter was very nice.

It was a wonderful but fairly fancy gastro-pub like place that had a wonderful atmosphere about it.

After a leisurely lunch, we went to Stow on the Wold and actually got out of the car this time.  We were lucky enough to find a great parking spot right in front of the stocks on the square.  We split up into smaller groups and wandered the town for about an hour.   Her latest book is for sale in the US but will not be available here until October 3.  She is one of the main reasons we decided to visit the Cotswolds.  The bookshop lady did tell me that Beaton’s real name is Mrs. Gibbs and she lives in Blockley – six miles from there. I went into antique stores looking for jewelry and old tools and finally found a tool he will like.  I also found books for Zoe (my granddaughter) but no jewelry yet for Rachel.  Others bought postcards, lavender and other small items. The traffic there was horrendous every time we went through – really, truly awful!!

We also found a bookshop where M C Beaton (author of the Agatha Raisin books) will be signing books but not for a few more weeks.

We left on the way to Chipping Campden but turned off the road to visit Blockley, just to see where the MC Beaton lives.  It is a very nice small village but we didn’t see the author anywhere in town. We did see beautiful roads, fields, far-reaching vistas on our way back to the main road.  On the way, we saw a man washing the windows of a thatched house in Broad Campden and we took lots of photos of thatched roof in that town and then later also.  I didn’t know that they thatch is covered in wire and and the top section of thatch is often very decorative.  They were very nice indeed.

 

We went on to Chipping Campden which was a fairly large village or town with straight-up three story houses just right on the main street.  You could tell it was a prosperous town and had been for a long time. 

We then saw a very interesting sign indicating the surrounding area and we all recognize this name – Worcestershire.

Then we drove up a very steep hillside to the Broadway Tower which is located on the very top and has panoramic views on all signs.  Sarah, Phyllis and Sue climbed the 71 steps to the top and took really nice photos for the rest of us to see.  There was a fenced in area next to the gift shop/restaurant where deer were grazing deep in the woods.

We then went down the hill to Broadway which does have a ‘broad way’ instead of the small roads in the middle of the other villages.  This village was even prettier and more manicured than the other villages.  And I did NOT drive on the sidewalk in Broadway, no I didn’t – not for long anyway!!!  As the day was passing very quickly, we cut our plans short and will save several villages for another day.  We did go through Snowshill, which is described as “a nearly edible bundle of cuteness”.  We took some very small, very narrow bumpy roads back toward Stow (again!!) but saw more beautiful vistas on the way.  The traffic in Stow was even worse this time. 

We arrived back at our cottage, rested a little while, then walked two blocks to the Italian restaurant, where we all had pizza.  It was all good.  Guess we’ll also be having pizza for breakfast.  We then had our nightly meeting and sharing of camera cards.  Now it’s bedtime – a late one for us since it’s already 9:30.  Such wild women we are.