Travelling north west from Bath, we headed for the Cotswolds, a rural area of south central England covering parts of 6 counties, most notably Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. Its rolling hills and grasslands, medieval villages, churches and homes built of limestone make the area very distinctive. We planned to visit a number of the small towns and as we drove along were impressed with the patchwork of grassy fields separated by fences of stone or hedge. We nearly ran over a partridge – the local brightly coloured bird characteristic of parts of the UK.
Our first stop was BILBURY – an absolutely delightful little town. We were able to find a park for the motorhome and wandered through the few streets of the town admiring the lovely little cottages. We stopped in at The Catherine Wheel (an old pub/café) for lunch and sampled some of the trout from the local trout farm. (Check out the video – it will make your mouth water).
Then it was on to the SLAUGHTERS (Upper and Lower) to again experience some of the Cotswold magic. Of special interest was the Old Mill Store where we could have bought lots of goodies. Merryl did by a book – “Slaughter in the Cotswolds” which she is now reading. While looking around, I noticed the Slaughters Cricket Ground and we decided that would be a good place to park for the night, as there was no caravan park close by. After a nice quiet night, we headed out the following morning only to find that the gate had been locked on us. I hunted out the fellow from the adjacent house and received a lecture about parking on private property. Typical pom, he couldn’t have just told us the night before that we couldn’t stay there. After pleading ignorance of the law, the gate was unlocked and we were allowed to leave without being slaughtered !!
OMG – thank goodness they allowed you to escape – unslaughtered. lol Magic area. Love the thatched cottages. Do I see a book coming up Merryl? Love from us