Tag Archives: Cotswolds

Tuesday, June 2 — Walk, Day Seven

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I woke several times last night and heard rain. Rain at night is allowed, although not appreciated greatly since we might end up walking through mud. Perhaps, though, we’ll avoid a lot of rain today which is not what the forecast had suggested earlier on.

Looking out one window I could see sheep in the distance, but that wasn’t any surprise since I could hear them.


Speaking of hearing, I forgot to mention a funny one from yesterday. As we were nearing the village we were going down a gentle slope. To my right was a bit of meadow and what looked like a forest. To my left was a wall of shrubs. I heard loud baa-ing. On my left. I looked and looked. No sheep! Jan must have figured out what was going on and I heard her (she was behind me) say, “They’re to your left.” DUH. I have to hearing in my left ear and hearing them in my right ear didn’t mean they had to be my right! But the most interesting bit is a bit later, as we were still on the path but there was a road to our left I heard motorcycles. Now where do you think I looked? To my left, of course! I even thought I heard them on my left. Because motorcycles couldn’t possibly be to my right. The brain knows!

Now back to today.

You might be shocked and amazed that we packed and lugged our bags down two flights of stairs. Great fun was had. Then it was time for breakfast.

We all enjoyed nice breakfasts, getting more food than we of course needed. But isn’t that what happens on vacations? Seems so. The photo below shows Dan. Most likely he’s meditating over a cup of coffee. You also see my slice of toast and I’ll just pretend that’s all I ate.

Then it was a quick trip back up to our rooms, with a quick shot up a lovely staircase (that we didn’t take), and we met up again to start our walk.

The walk began easily, as we said goodbye to Chipping Campden and got on to our route..

We soon left the road and marched on. Or ambled. You choose. Some of the sheep yesterday and today look rather naked, as they’d been shorn.

Above Chipping Campden is Broad Campden. The Quaker meeting house you can see in one photo has been used in the Father Brown series.

We were told to turn left at the Bakers Arms pub. At that point Jan and I were walking together. We saw one path but it was before the pub so we walked past to the next left and went there. Well, my phone was NOT at all happy with me and let me know. Oops. We were supposed to take the other left. So back we went.

We saw we were again on The Monarch’s Way. When I first saw a sign for The Monarch’s Way I thought they were talking about butterflies. Yes. Really. But never mind.

We continued our walk through lovely areas, through sheep areas (we have to do some “poop dodging” in those) and more. The clouds did look ominous at times. (But I think the gifts the sheep leave are more ominous!)

I sort of got off track one other time: we are the red line. We are supposed to follow the blue. I really just think we are more creative is all. (I suspect you have to click on this image to really understand what I’m writing about!)

More walking, more beautiful views, more fun with Jan! Oh, and more grain.’

Then we reached the village of Blockley.

Don’t know the place? Well, you might know it as Kembleford. As in Father Brown. We arrived there, not remembering the Father Brown bit. We went to a little store to buy some lunch and as we exited the store the rain came down. Right next door was a cafe and Jan and I went in to order cappuccinos and I asked if we could eat our sandwiches there. The young woman said normally no, but their oven wasn’t working (or something like that) and if we were discreet they’d allow it. So we very discreetly ate the sandwich (we shared because we are learning that we often could just share things rather than eat too much) and drank our coffee. Later Dan arrived and had an espresso and cake, so I wasn’t feeling quite so bad about our eating our sandwich. When we left the cafe we had a look at the church used in Father Brown. Because Jan and I put on our rain jackets the rain stopped.

Then on we went, past Blockley, through meadows, past cows, down paths and trees, through some rather narrow spots, and we did have another climb. (We had one earlier in the day but nothing like yesterday.) It’s nearly impossible to really show you how high we’d climbed, but if you can see a village below us in some of these photos, that’s Blockley again and we are high above it!

Now I must say there were many moments we had to concentrate very hard on where we stepped, in order to dodge things that must be dodged. We also had to be cautious about sting weed and the thorns on various plants. But we soldiered on bravely. (At one point, though, I did have Jan grab the poles from my pack and we each took one … it was so helpful to have both to help us climb and to assist in pushing back prickly plants.)

I can’t remember exactly when the rain began, but it rained. And it was somewhat significant. We stood under some trees for a time. Earlier we had heard thunder and wondered if we’d get dumped on. After a while someone who is impatient (me) decided to go on while Mr. Patience (Dan) waited a bit more. Jan was with me and, really, I think we were right to go on. But Dan later mentioned perhaps with the possibility of lightning we might have been smart to wait. But hey, I’m here, right?

The sheep here are much bolder than the shy Scotland sheep we saw. We even seemed to have welcoming committees sometimes.

The walk continues. The dodging continued as well.

And THEN … the worst of all. Mud. Mucky mud. By the time we got through the field of mud my shoes were caked and so much heavier. I’m hoping that means I get extra points: it’s like weight lifting, really. Jan took a photo of my lovely shoes. (I attempted to pull my pants legs up a bit so we could really see the damage. Honestly, though, it was worse than these photos show, I think!)

From there we were very close to our final (can you hear me sighing and even crying a bit?) destination of the walk.

Hello again, Moreton-in-Marsh!

We are back in the hotel we stayed in when we arrived here, but no deluxe room this time.

Shortly after getting in our room we met up with Greg and Jan for a celebratory drink. I took photos as we went down the stairs. The many, many stairs. But that really doesn’t do them justice! (I think I counted 28 steps up, and then, for Dan and me, 4 down to get to our room.)


But your SHOES, you ask? Did you really walk into the hotel and then go to the bar with those SHOES? No. I didn’t. I’ve been taught by the master here (hi Dan) that a puddle, especially a puddle with rocks below, is a great way to clean off filthy shoes. I had also used my poles to knock off a lot of the mud. By the time we got to the hotel the shoes were nearly presentable. After drinks, when I got to our room I used some wipes to clean them off nearly completely. I was happy to have them clean, and even happier to have shower time to get me clean!

We had dinner at the hotel and the meal was lovely. Greg and Jan had some risotto, Dan had chicken, and I had trout. All tasty!

We had a little after dinner drink and called it a night.

While we went back upstairs I took a video: this hotel has a lot of twists and turns. I’m guessing I could easily get lost. I’m not sure the video will really show that, though.

Tomorrow we move on. Time is passing by far too quickly and I just want it all to slow down, but I guess I’m not in control of time. I should be, but I’m not. Ah well.

Goodnight and stay tuned for the next adventure!

21,457 steps, 8.32 miles, 17 flights climbed

Sunday, May 31 — Walk, Day Five

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We moved our breakfast time up to 8:00 because today is our longest walk. We will be walking 14.4k so around 9 miles.

First, of course, packing, which at this point is fairly easy: everything has its spot and I mostly remember where those spots are.

Breakfast was quite nice. I took no photos of that, but I did take a photo of the stairs we had to deal with with our luggage, and a photo of said luggage waiting for pick up.

Then it was time to walk and off we went, first through Winchcombe and then on to Puck Pit Lane.

Jan graciously and gracefully demonstrated a new kind of gate we had to use at times.

We had, of course, gorgeous landscapes.

I shot this plant to try and identify it. According to my phone it’s broad bean. I know, not exactly a thrilling close up photo of the plant, but the fields were impressive.

Then it was back to a grain that the iPhone said was “bread wheat”.

We arrived in Hailes and Greg and Jan kindly posed for me. There was also the ruins of the Hailes Abbey. And there are to be no detectorists in the field by the abbey. You’ve been warned

We checked out the Hailes church, which included frescoes which I found interesting as I hadn’t realized any churches here had those.

Then it was back to fields and meadows, and of course gates. Ah, the gates … or stiles … or kissing gates. So many have different ways of opening and closing. It’s like an intelligence test, and I think I mostly score a B or C, but the one with a chain was easy to figure out. I give myself an A (because I do not believe in A+ as I frequently mention to Dan).

We passed by Wood Stanway Farmhouse and then entered Stanway. I had thought that might be a place to stop for a rest or whatever but there wasn’t anywhere near our path that looked like a possibility.

So on we marched. We passed sheep, and continued on through a bit of a lush “tunnel” (it felt like it, anyway), until we reached a road we had to cross.

Then it was more on the path, which wasn’t always smooth. I had to remember to lift her feet so I wouldn’t take another spill!

Oh … and I made a video during the above portion of the walk.

We passed by the Stanway House. I don’t know if people ever get to visit, but it and the church by it were locked tight.

From there we entered the Cotswold Way trail. (There are a number of trails in the Cotswolds.)

There was a huge beautiful tree that I had to shoot to see if it could be identified. The iPhone said “European Beech” and when Greg reached us he said it was a beech, but had a different name (in German) for it.

We went through more meadows.

Finally we were in Stanton. We were weary and ready for a rest and maybe some lunch. I had noted in my research that there was The Mount Inn where we could get a bite. Well gee, it was a big climb to get there. Ah … I get it: “Mount Inn” as in mountain. Cute. Or not. None of us were all that keen on the hike up. We ordered our food and drinks and were surprised by the amount of food we had. I forgot to take any photos of the food (I blame the climb), and only have one shot of part of the room we were in.

Then we had the last leg of our walk. I thought it was two miles. I was wrong: it was a bit longer. First we walked back down the hill in Stanton.

While Jan and Greg went ahead I told Jan I would go back to find Dan as he wasn’t with us. Since I found him near the Church of St. Michael & All Angels we went inside.

Then it was (surprise!) more meadows. And sheep. Some were the spotted sheep we had been told we might find. (Confession: I thought they’d be spotted on their wool. Heh. No … spotted faces.)

There was one very large climb. I had feared it might be there, but Dan had suggested it wouldn’t be a big one. Gee, I was right! So up up up we climbed. But climbs don’t look like climbs in photos so never mind that. Just know we made it up to the top.

And then there were the cows with one beige stripe. We saw those in Scotland too. I’d never seen them prior to this trip.

More walking. More meadows. More lovely views. And a new kind of gate … but not really a gate.

Finally we arrived! Our longest day was done. And hello Broadway! Now they say the neon lights are bright but I didn’t see even one neon light here. Be forewarned. We checked into our hotel and our room is lovely.

We met Jan and Greg again for dinner, which we had right at the hotel. You get no photos of dinner. But it was good and I’m tired and there you go. But here, have some photos of only a few of the stairs we had to take to get to our rooms.

Now it may be only 8:50 here, but I’m pretty darn tired and hoping I will sleep after that long walk. Goodnight!

26,207 steps, 10.26 miles, 7 flights climbed

Thursday, May 28 — Walk, Day Two

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**I hope you know that if you click on images you should see them better!

We woke and had in-room coffee before packing our bags to get downstairs for the 8:30 required time. (Not that they ever pick them up right then, but they say 8:30 so I will not be late!) One annoying thing yours truly did was, as I was attempting to pull my adapter out of the wall socket thinking to myself, “You are forcing it and it’s going to break!” I broke it. Stupid me, but there you go.

Oh … and yesterday we saw a sign outside that announced a Motor Show. Or so I thought. This morning when I looked outside I realized it read “Moron Show”. Well, because I’m such a genius, when Dan laughed and said someone had changed it I said, “Oh. I just thought maybe there was a car called Moron.” Okay. Really, I did say that. And yes, Dan could hardly stop laughing. Since my goal in life is to make people laugh I guess I can say I’ve had a successful day.

We went downstairs, met up with Jan and Greg, and headed to the breakfast area. It was another lovely meal. I had eggs Florentine, and the others had equally delightful plates of food.

From there we went back upstairs so Dan and I could vote.

Yep. Vote.

Because we would be out of the country when ballots would be mailed we requested the overseas ballots and they had been sent to Greg and Jan’s. Greg delivered the morning after we first met up, but this morning was the first time we were really ready to fill things out. Then I walked them over to the post office, where it was £7 and change to get them sent. Now we just hope they arrive in time! (Only after we signed up to have these ballots mailed did we then get an email saying we could have actually printed ballots early at home and sent them. I sure wish we’d known about that earlier!)

We dropped by a store so Greg could get a hat (a nice Tilley), and soon it was back to our rooms to get our daypacks and start our walk.

The beginning of the walk took place on the road, and passed by a cemetery.

Soon we crossed the busy street and were on the path, which is much nicer to walk. It had sprinkled last night, but thankfully it wasn’t at all muddy. Unfortunately it was a bit muggy (and became muggier as the day progressed). The walk was quite scenic. It was also all downhill to begin with which was hard on someone who had a damaged toe. (Sorry, Greg! That is no fun, I know, having dealt with that myself. But you are so quiet about it. I would have complained and attempted to get a lot of sympathy!)

We reached a spot where there was, much to our surprise, a food truck. The woman had an espresso machine, as well as some goodies. We all ordered some form of coffee. How fun to run across this. In addition Dan, who had arrived there first, was conversing with a group of women. As it turned out (and I’m guessing that’s why I heard a big laugh from all of them as I walked toward them) they are from Los Gatos and Saratoga areas. One of them went to Monte Vista High School and certainly knew Lynbrook High — but they were probably ten years younger than I am. Once again, a small world.

We walked on through, mostly, meadows. I had read that there was a sign warning walkers about the possibility of a bull in a field, but we never did see one. I was ready, though, to use Dan and/or Greg as a shield so Jan and I could escape. That would have made one or both of them heroes, right?!

Then we entered the small village of Lower Slaughter.

At that point we were ready to have a seat for a while, so we stopped in at The Slaughter Country Inn for a light bite. As we sat clouds were rolling in and for a time we thought we might be in for a spot of rain, but it never did hit us.

From there we had the final leg of our short and gentle walk.

Now it’s Hello Bourton-on-the-Water! And hello major crowds. I had read it was the most crowded village, but I had no idea what the meant. It’s crazy and a bit of a shock. Our dinner reservation is just at a pub — nothing fancy as far as I can see — but I’m glad I made a reservation!

Our stay is at the Broadlands Hotel.

We have a slightly larger room than yesterday, but it’s pretty minimal. There is no place to hang towels, for instance, and luggage will have to opened on the floor or bed. But we shall survive, I’m sure. We stay here two nights and have transfers: the first is back to the hotel from tomorrow’s destination and the following day the transfer is at 9:30 in the morning, taking us to our starting point. Dan and I have learned to like these two day stays — it means we don’t have to wake up to pack tomorrow morning.

We both showered and did a bit of laundry. I’m happy I have my merino shirt: I washed it and about an hour later it was close to dry. That fabric really is rather amazing.

When we were all ready, we went out to walk a bit and went to the Co-op to look for a small bottle of laundry detergent (it wasn’t to be found). Then we headed back to make our 6:00 dinner reservation at Kingsbridge Inn.

We walked in to Kingsbridge pub and I told the man behind the bar that I had reservations. He said just to pick any table for four. Didn’t even ask my name. Hm. No reservations were needed at all. That was a surprise. We went outside to the patio there. All the tables were either occupied or very dirty. We weren’t impressed, but finally cleared a table ourselves and sat down. While at the bar we were told to order our dinners via our phones or else go up to the bar. We chose the former and placed our orders once we found things that were available: it seemed the majority of items were out of stock. Drinks were the same. But we managed to get our orders done and paid for (and then they give us the option of tipping them? For all the work we did. So strange. But yes, we tipped 5%.). A bit later Greg and Jan got their drinks (they ordered separately) and we sat and waited. Then a young man came up to tell me they were out of something I’d ordered but they could replace it with something else or refund me. Fine. Replace it. Eventually he returned again and said they were out of my drink so I had to choose something else. And after all that another man came and said the kitchen was too hot and they had to close it down. He said it was 60° centigrade. He said “no food”. I said we’d already ordered and paid and he said we should go to the bar to get a refund. Um. Okay. Greg went up and then the younger man came and said that yes, our food WAS coming. I quickly went to Greg since I thought he’d be asking for the refund (realizing too late I should have just let him do it and we could have left). But then our meals and drinks all came. With no silverware or napkins. I could go on and on about how crazy and poor the service was, but I’ll stop now and just say I’m sorry I chose that place.

After that debacle we really wanted to sit and relax elsewhere. We looked a bit nearby. We didn’t see anything there, but I did see the tallest lupine I’ve ever seen!

Then we found a lovely spot for some wine. The restaurant looked so nice. Earlier we had seen the place I’d reserved for tomorrow and thought it looked a bit questionable so I canceled that and made a reservation for this new place. I’m thinking tomorrow will be much nicer! We had a lovely time sitting under a fragrant tree with pretty pink blossoms (I think it’s a locust tree?).

Back to our hotel we went, and said our good nights. Tomorrow we have breakfast set for 8:30, so we’ll connect again then.

Oh … and it has been sprinkling a bit. I’m thankful it waited until we got back to our rooms.

Goodnight!

17,389 steps, 6.96 miles, 2 flights climbed (this last bit is surely inaccurate, as we climbed hotel stairs at least 4 times)