AONB

Today is my last full day in the Cotswolds. I had two alternative plans. One was to head north to Tewksebury. The other was to head south to Stroud and Painswick. As I was checking train times this morning I discovered that there had been an accident on the line to Worcester that I would need for Tewksebury and the line was out. Decision made. 

Of course, the problems with the train line were a little more concerning because that's the line my train will use tomorrow. I started to make alternative plans just in case I had to get to York via a different route. 

Once organised, I headed to the train station to take the train to Stroud. There was a degree of chaos there regarding the line problems but the staff were doing a great job and appeared to be managing the situation as best they could. My train was only partly affected as extra people needed to travel south in order to catch a different line north. 

I wasn't quite sure what to expect at Stroud. What I found was a bit of a mishmash. Some very old buildings some newer. But what I saw didn't have the charm of the other towns I've seen.

What was different, and most impressive about the town were the views of the countryside from within the town. 

There was a busy market in an area of the town called The Shambles, mainly farmers market but there were some craft stalls dotted around. I wandered a bit.

One stall had some amazing mounted photographs of the Cotswolds. I was tempted to buy one but decided to get it on the way back through Stroud at the end of the day (unfortunately plans changed and that didn't happen). I did, however, buy a delicious chocolate and lemon cheesecake brownie from a brownie stall. And the waistline expansion continues.

I didn't stay in Stroud long though. Instead I took the 61 bus to get to Painswick.  Painswick had a completely different feel. The buildings were reminiscent of the other villages I've visited, but with similarly spectacular views to Stroud. Like yesterday, utterly breathtaking at times.

One shop had this cute tiny window display. 

St Mary's church is in the centre of the town. A cemetery with numerous topiary trees surrounds it.  I saw a photograph of the village in a window that I think would have been taken from the base of the spire. There was a mist over the buildings and it just looked magical.

I wandered around so much that I missed the bus I had intended to catch back to Stroud. So instead I popped in to the Falcon Inn for delicious beef and ale pie followed by salted caramel chocolate tart with salted caramel ice cream. More expanding waistline.

Lunch didn't seem that much but I found it hard to move afterwards. Instead of returning to Stroud I decided the easiest option would be to continue with the 61 bus on to Cheltenham.  As the bus reached the edge of the town an incredible vista of the surrounding hills opened up. If only I had walked a little bit further!

By the time I got back to the hotel I felt I needed to walk off lunch a bit more so I wandered around the area by the hotel a bit. By this time it was about 4:30. So many trees are in blossom. There is one kind in particular I have noticed. It has cones of blossom pointing upward. This picture doesn't show the shape all that well, but it was the only tree I could find with the right light for a photograph.

So, the last three days have exceeded my expectations of what I would find in the Cotswolds and I understand why they are designated as an AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). 

Also, it looks like the train line to the north has been cleared, so I'm hopeful that tomorrow's journey will be able to proceed as originally planned. I'll check again in the morning to be safe. 

Beauty overload

The places I visited yesterday were beautiful but I still felt that I had only scratched the surface of Cotswolds beauty. After all, I hadn't seen a proper thatched roof cottage yet! So today I decided to go even more off the beaten track. I picked up some good walking maps from Bourton-on-the-Water yesterday and planned a trip around a place called Chipping Campden.

First up I needed to catch the 801 bus again but this time all the way to Moreton-in-Marsh. I had to change buses at the train station. The signal box at the station was very cute. 

Next I caught the 22 bus to Chipping Campden. The bus wound through Bourton-on-the-Hill, Blockley and Broad Campden. All of them looked gorgeous but only Broad Campden was going to be easy enough for me to get to. By the way, I think the names of these places are just as beautiful as the places themselves. 

Chipping Campden was another large town, but with lots of very historic buildings in the honey coloured stone of the Cotswolds. I wandered around a bit, but it was very much a sense of more of the same as yesterday. And it was already busy with tourists. 

I was keen to get back to Broad Campden so I headed off down one of the walking paths. 

Broad Campden was exactly what I felt I had missed so far. Small, charming, no tourists ... and a good smattering of thatched cottages. 

I noticed this on the top of one of the thatches. 

All of the walking paths around the village led to beautiful views. 

On one edge of the village was a field with sheep grazing. It was great to be able to get up close. 

My original plan had me walking on to 2-3 other villages. But with this village I really felt that I'd seen what I'd been looking for, plus it was lunch time, plus I was getting a bit tired of walking. So I popped into the Bakers Arms for lunch. 

I had a delicious spiced parsnip soup with crusty roll. Coincidentally, the Bakers Arms was the local bus stop so I decided to stay there to wait for the bus to start the journey back. As with yesterday, connection times for the return trip weren't so good so it took a long time to get back to Cheltenham. This time I was able to take part of the trip by train (via Worcester) which gave me some time to research options for tomorrow's adventure.

I must admit, there were times today when I turned a corner and lost my breath at the beauty and surprise of the scene that appeared before me. Truly stunning. 

Slaughtering time

The reason for staying in Cheltenham was to use it as a base for exploring the Cotswolds. It's just outside the main Cotswolds area but very accessible. Though based on what I've learnt, next time I would/will stay in one of the small towns to get a more complete experience.

My original plan was also to drive but I've gone off that idea completely. The roads around here are as narrow as Cornwall. So this morning I checked out all the resources I could to plan an itinerary using local buses. It took a bit of jiggling but I came up with a plan that looked good on paper. But would it actually work?

First off I needed to make my way to the train station. Firstly to buy a Cotswolds Discoverer pass which would give me unlimited train and bus travel. And secondly to catch the 801 bus to Northleach. 

Northleach wasn't a final destination. I needed to change buses there. But it was still a good introduction to the feel of the Cotswolds.

From Northleach I caught the 855 bus to Bilbury. Getting off the bus I overhead a woman with an Australian accent asking where the bus stop for the return journey was. I took the opportunity of speaking with her to find that out for myself too.

Bilbury was prettier than Northleach, with a small river running through the centre. 

I wandered around town for a bit and then to the edge of town.

Not the kind of wildlife signs we're used to seeing in Australia.  

The bus back to Northleach and on to my next destination didn't leave until 1:17, so I decided it would make sense to have lunch. There were a couple of options, but the Swan Inn looked the best and was in view of the bus stop, just to be safe. Had a delicious pulled pork burger. 

Also at the Swan Inn was the Australian woman I had spoken to after getting off the bus. Our paths had crossed a bit while wandering around town and we had a chat while we waited for the bus. She is from Newcastle visiting her daughter and having a holiday at the same time. She gave me a good tip for something to see at my next destination. 

We caught the 855 bus back to Northleach and then waited for the 801 bus to Bourton-on-the-Water. This town had yet another feel. By the time I got there it was about 2:30 and it was packed with tourists. Still pretty though.

I had plenty of time before the final bus back to Cheltenham so I followed up the advice I'd been given which was to walk from Bourton-on-the-Water to Lower Slaughter. I know, the name sounds terrible but it's an old word for "miry place". The walk took me along a public walkway between the towns. I bought some maps with these walkways and am considering doing a bit more walking tomorrow. They're really good paths and it's a great way to get off the beaten track. 

And Lower Slaughter was delightful. 

All in all, the day was a bit like stepping back in time. The towns and villages feel like they have barely changed. Only the road signs and occasional modern conveniences remind you that it's 2016.  

The bus back to Cheltenham left Bourton-on-the-Water at 5:10. By now my feet were killing me. It was nice to sit on the bus for a while. The journey took about an hour and a half. I managed to catch some more shots of the scenery on the way back. 

Time for a shower, a drink and some bangers and mash in the bar.