Day started in Bibury. Quiant, crowded, real cotswold stone buildings. Typical summers day, a little rain and several coach loads of Japanese tourists, filled the beautifully maintained village. Part of the village is owned by the National Trust. Yes, they buying villages now and in this case, conserving the original Cotswold style houses. Built with Cotswolds stone and unique to the world.
The village was once described by William Morris as the most beautiful village in England. Everyone is allowed their opinion, it is very old, dating back to the Doomsday Book, 1086. That my fellow travellers is just under 950 years ago. We walked along the Arlington Row of cottages and then the village. I must admit I did enjoy walking around and although small, we never felt crowded. We had our solution to this, we had Jenson with us and most of those tourist are terrified of dogs, making our walk along the sidewalks very easy. The tourists parted, to allow us through, some even climbed up onto the low walls for fear of Jenson. We finished with a coffee at the Swan Hotel.
Made our way to the hotel in Shipton Oliffe, The Frogmill Hotel. Their website describes the hotel as “Renovated in 2018, the 16th-century inn boasts 28 boutique bedrooms, quality dining, country pub classics, and an event space worthy of any celebration.”
Good hotel and well chosen by Susan, also very dog friendly. Jenson, unlike Sam, thrived on all the attention and buzz the hotel held. The rooms were pleasant and far enough away from the hotel, for us not to worry about Jenson, if he barked.
We had just sat down to order our evening meal when the heavens opened and as you can see from the images, a real summer storm, fill of life and colour. Really loved the effect of the sun on the raindrops. A short down pour and the sun shone again on a washed hotel terrace, giving us time to take these photos. Robert arrived at about 9 and we enjoyed a good meal in the dog friendly pub, that was once we had settled JB down after the big excitement of seeing him again. That dog does have an affinity with the boy.
Robert joined us for a walk around the neighbouring Golf Course and then breakfast and we were off to Bourton-on-the-Water, a short drive from the hotel. Moderner then Bibury and much fewer tourists but we were there quite early. Took an amazing photo of Susan and Robert next to an Austin Mini made from a hedge.
Being Roberts birthday, we strolled around like tourists and browsed the touristy shops and then decided to see what Lower Slaughter was all about. No parking so drove slowly through, 2 minutes and we were on our way to Upper Slaughter. Not sure what happened there but we seem to have missed it completely. Anyway onwards we traveled, this time to Stow on Water, visited an interesting little grocery store and we were able to buy some much needed provisions. My brother would have enjoyed the experience as he is a big fan of Tesco.
Next was Sherbourne Lodge, sort of an old fashion corporate entertainment house of gambling. The card players also had the daily dog race. The dog chased a deer which would always outrun them but it was 1 mile and at the end there was a trench which the dogs could not jump but the deers could and this let the deer escape back into the estate and the dogs could be caught. The first dog to reach the trench was the winner.
Interestingly the lodge was built in 1632, South Africa was first colonised in 1652.
Lodge Park is England’s only surviving and probably most opulent 17th-century grandstand. Created in 1634 by John ‘Crump’ Dutton, Lodge Park indulged his passion for gambling, banqueting and entertaining. That is according to the National Trust.
Walking into the lodge and you could imagine the cheer of the crowds, smell the stale air of the gambling tables and hear the occasional shout from a winner. Only the top storey has been furnished and looked after. As can be seen from the photos I have inserted, still holds that air of the idle rich, entertaining themselves and someone getting rich in the process. Life has not changed, the stakes have got bigger and it is easier to gamble but we still want to take the chances, bet on our hope of good fortune and pray that Lady Luck is with us.
Made our final stop at the National Trusts Roman Villa.
Cradled in a beautiful Cotswold valley rest the remains of one of the grandest Roman villas in Britain. National Trust's view.
We have two National trust cards and our merry bunch was three and a dog. Well you cannot take a dog in, so that took care of someone to keep the dog company. Susan was not too enthralled at the prospect of seeing a Roman Villa and kindly stayed with said hound.
Robert and I ventured into this journey back in time. Robert was Mrs Susan Fay, well that is what his National Trust card said, tricky to explain but then we just walked in as though we owned the place. Quite remarkable to see the mosaic tiles and baths from the Roman era. They did have underfloor heating in 43 AD, quite clever those Roman fellows. Not to be confused with the Romany travellers that frequent the south of England in the summer.
The village was once described by William Morris as the most beautiful village in England. Everyone is allowed their opinion, it is very old, dating back to the Doomsday Book, 1086. That my fellow travellers is just under 950 years ago. We walked along the Arlington Row of cottages and then the village. I must admit I did enjoy walking around and although small, we never felt crowded. We had our solution to this, we had Jenson with us and most of those tourist are terrified of dogs, making our walk along the sidewalks very easy. The tourists parted, to allow us through, some even climbed up onto the low walls for fear of Jenson. We finished with a coffee at the Swan Hotel.
Made our way to the hotel in Shipton Oliffe, The Frogmill Hotel. Their website describes the hotel as “Renovated in 2018, the 16th-century inn boasts 28 boutique bedrooms, quality dining, country pub classics, and an event space worthy of any celebration.”
Good hotel and well chosen by Susan, also very dog friendly. Jenson, unlike Sam, thrived on all the attention and buzz the hotel held. The rooms were pleasant and far enough away from the hotel, for us not to worry about Jenson, if he barked.
Interestingly the lodge was built in 1632, South Africa was first colonised in 1652.
Lodge Park is England’s only surviving and probably most opulent 17th-century grandstand. Created in 1634 by John ‘Crump’ Dutton, Lodge Park indulged his passion for gambling, banqueting and entertaining. That is according to the National Trust.
Made our final stop at the National Trusts Roman Villa.
Cradled in a beautiful Cotswold valley rest the remains of one of the grandest Roman villas in Britain. National Trust's view.
We have two National trust cards and our merry bunch was three and a dog. Well you cannot take a dog in, so that took care of someone to keep the dog company. Susan was not too enthralled at the prospect of seeing a Roman Villa and kindly stayed with said hound.
Robert and I ventured into this journey back in time. Robert was Mrs Susan Fay, well that is what his National Trust card said, tricky to explain but then we just walked in as though we owned the place. Quite remarkable to see the mosaic tiles and baths from the Roman era. They did have underfloor heating in 43 AD, quite clever those Roman fellows. Not to be confused with the Romany travellers that frequent the south of England in the summer.
Nice
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