A Walk Through the Cotswalds

We were really lucky on our holiday to have great weather.  On Saturday, we headed out on a 6 mile hike around the Cotswalds.  We had a small map to show us the way which proved to be comical as the directions would tell us to veer, but not in any direction.

We started along the canal that runs through town.  I thought this photo was so funny.  Two guys relaxing watching their fishing poles as the sheep grazed in the background.

We walked along the canal for a while taking in the view of the town.

Here is one of the locks on the canal.

Here is Roshana leading the way through a field of nettles.  Good thing there was a path so we did not get stung.

The landscape changed rapidly.  After walking through nettles, we were then in a field with a manor house overlooking the land.

On the other side, the canal was opening up more and we found larger/taller boats.  I really like this photo of all the sailboats.

And of course there was a lot of livestock.  Very strange to hop over the fence and walk through people's land.  But it is one of the wonderful things about England....public has right of way.

We got some strange looks!

Here is Roshana going over one of the many fences we climbed on the way.

There was also lots of berries and plants in full bloom.

We also saw some happy fat cows.

Here I am in a field of wildflowers.

More cattle, but this time I felt like I was home.  Calves and a very large bull gave us the eye as we walked through their pasture.  Oh the smell of manure.

We also came across a nice lake with swans.

The end of the walk was more entertaining.  Let's just say the path was not used that often! 

We ended the walk along the river Avon. 

It was a lovely walk.  More to follow.

500 Years of History

We had a bank holiday weekend last week and I headed out of town to Tewkesbury in the Cotswolds.  The main goal of the weekend was to hang out in a Landmark Trust property.  It is a charity organization that preserves historic properties.  They rent out the properties to pay for the up keep on each building.

Roshana and I spent the weekend in the Abbey Gatehouse, built around 1500!  Here I am in front of my home for the weekend.

Under the archway were these massive wooden doors.

And behind one of the doors was the entry to the Gatehouse. The cleaning lady left the key under the doormat for us.  Rather funny.

Some very narrow stairs to the top.
 

Into the living space.  The one room had been converted into a very comfortable living space.  Here is the living room space.
 

And also a dining room space. Roshana and I enjoyed sitting at separate ends of the table to eat.  Behind the wood paneling (in the picture) is a kitchen and bathroom.  On top is a loft area were we slept.  It was a big open space.  What was funny was the size of most of the furniture. For such a grand place, you would assume a bigger sofa, chairs, etc.  But because the stairwell was so small leading up to the living space, most things had to be tiny or taken apart to fit.

Here is Roshana reading the first log book for the Abbey Gatehouse in 1991 when it opened after it had been saved by the Trust.

They had a number of different folders that you could look at which showed the Gatehouse before it was livable. 

At one point, it did not have a roof.

The walls also had the history of the Gatehouse and I thought it was crazy to see an etching of the Gatehouse from 1791!  So old.

The Gatehouse was also located in a quiet area beside the Tewkesbury Abbey.  Here is a picture of our backyard!

More to follow on what we did for the weekend.