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Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 ENGLAND: LONDON
AND THE COTSWOLDS SOUTH THROUGH THE COTSWOLDS
Wednesday, May
18. We had a problem
at breakfast in the hotel. I
ordered cafe' latte
instead of ordinary coffee and
apparently it was too much for
them to handle. Eventually I was
served my full breakfast and there
was still no sign of any coffee.
The manager got involved when I
insisted that I did not want my
breakfast served before I got some
coffee.
Lee picked us up at
9:00 again. It was raining
steadily, but fortunately that did
not last long. We realized that we
had not seen St. James Church in
Chipping Campden, so we asked Lee
to take us there on our way out.
St. James is one of the many 15th
century "wool churches" church,
financed primarily by donations
from rich merchants and farmers
who had benefitted from the
medieval wool trade. Near the
Church were some remnants of Campden House, a manor house built
in 1613 and burned by retreating
Royalist soldiers 32 years later.
Then we started our journey south.
We were leaving the northern Cotswolds today and would spend
the night in Bath on the southern
edge.
Less than half an hour after leaving Chipping Campden, we passed through the tiny villages of Lower Swell and Upper Slaughter and continued on to Lower Slaughter. We visited St. Mary's Church, then walked along the River Eye that divides the village until we came to an old mill. This was one of the prettiest villages we visited.
We then drove to nearby
Stow-on-the-Wold, a busy town and
a far cry from the little villages
we had been seeing. After driving
us around a bit, Lee dropped us
off. It was about 10:30 and we
agreed to meet him at 11:00, so we
only had a range of 15 minutes
(each way) to explore. It was very
nice, but not as pleasant as the
villages.
From Stow we headed south again, passing through the large village of Bourton-on-the-Water and going around the town of Cirencester. Later we passed the unusual Cotswold Airport at Kemble, where older planes are cannibalized or rebuilt. We arrived at Lacock shortly after noon. We sat down for lunch in a cute cafe' on the main street, but it soon became apparent that we would not be served for a long time. We left, bought a sandwich in a grocery store and ate it outside sitting on a bench. Lee drove us around this very pretty village and eventually to Lacock Abbey.
The Abbey was founded as a nunnery in the 13th century, but it was closed in the 16th when Henry VIII seized most monastic property. It remained a private residence until purchased by the National Trust and turned into a museum. It was very interesting, and we spent over an hour going through it. We also explored the gardens.
We left about 14:30 and drove the few miles to Castle Combe. This is an exceptionally beautiful little village, but the 12th century castle that gave the place its name has been gone for centuries. We spent about half an hour looking around the village before Lee led us to the manor house.
The original Manor House was built in the 17th century, but it was rebuilt in the 19th. It is now a five star hotel with 48 rooms and 365 acres of gardens. We did not go inside, but we explored the beautiful grounds.
We followed a pretty lane back to the center of the village. It was about 16:15 when Lee bought each of us cream tea at a small pub. It was most welcome after our light lunch. It took us another hour to reach the Abbey Hotel, right in the center of Bath. Lee checked us in about 17:00, then left for the night. We rested for a while and partially unpacked for our two-day stay. I went out to look around and found that our hotel was right along the River Avon and also that we were only about a block from Bath Abbey. About 18:30 we both went out to find a place for dinner. The hotel desk recommended Joya, near the Pulteney Bridge, so we walked north along the Parade Gardens to the river. From there we could see the bridge. There was a weir below it creating a v-shaped rapids.
The Pulteney Bridge (1744) resembles the Ponte Vecchio in Florence in that it is completely lined with shops on both sides all the way across. We crossed it and briefly looked around before crossing back. We spotted the Joya up the street and had dinner there. The place was bustling and very noisy, but the food was really good. It was about a ten minute walk back to the hotel.
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