October 25 - The Cotswolds

One of our excursions from London was to the Cotswolds, an area of green fields, rolling hillsides and quaint villages. We chose to stay at Honeybourne, which is one of the lesser known of these. To get there, we took the train from London to Oxford and then rented a car. The drive was confusing to say the least and thank goodness for the GPS that we decided to rent along with the car. I can’t see to read directions and Lyle shouldn’t be taking his eyes off the road to see them either. There were many, many turns to different roads from Oxford to Honeybourne.

Honeybourne is near to Chipping Campden, once known as a bustling market town, and we spent the good part of an afternoon here.  The stone remnants of the old market place still stand in the centre of High Street. We looked for a marker to give us some idea of just how old the building was but without success. Perhaps everything is just so old that markers and plaques become redundant.

I was quite fascinated by the short narrow doorframes on some of the older buildings. Lyle took several pictures of the doors. I was wishing that we had thought to do this in Cornwall as well. There the doors were painted in all the colours of the rainbow – blue, green, orange, purple. None of the next door neighbours had an identically coloured door to the other.

We also came across a stone arch – again quite short and narrow – leading to the Ernest Chinese Wilson Memorial Garden.  Wilson was a botanist and an intrepid explorer. The distances this man covered in the days when travel was difficult – I’m talking about the late 1800’s and early 1900’s – were quite extraordinary. Basically he travelled the world, especially in remote areas of China, looking for different plant species. Many of these he brought back to England. In the final chapter of his life, he was still involved with travel, but became ill while in the United States and for a reason that wasn’t explained in the printed biography, his remains were brought back to Montreal for burial.

I liked the Cotswolds and there is a lot of history surrounding the various villages. There are also interesting walks across the fields and along public pathways connecting these villages. I did find the area a little claustrophobic but that might be because I didn’t really know where we were. It would be easy for me to become lost without specific landmarks. Nevertheless, I’m glad that we took the time to visit and I can certainly understand the appeal that the area has for so many people.

 

There are three pictures with this post. The first shows one of the older buildings along the main street of Chipping Campden. The second picture shows me standing beside one of the older doors and the last picture shows me standing in front of the arch to the Wilson Memorial Gardens.

 

Sue in front of old building in Chipping Campden

Sue in front of an old door

Sue in front of an arch at Wilson Memorial Gardens