The largest open-air street market in the Cotswolds takes place in Moreton-on-Marsh on Tuesdays.  It can get crazy busy and really crowded so we chose to avoid it!  However, unbeknownst to us, the first Saturday of September is the Moreton agricultural show and horse competitions. Lots of folks and difficult to find parking, so we…

The whole of the Cotswolds has been designated an AONB, an area of outstanding natural beauty.  But we giggle at the competition.  Castle Combe is often called ‘the prettiest village in England’.  William Morris called Bibury ‘the most beautiful village in England’ and Lower Slaughter is famous for being ‘one of the most beautiful towns…

Bourton on the Water is called the Venice of the Cotswolds due to the multitude of pretty and romantic bridges over the Windrush River.  We checked out the motoring museum, where we explored the history of 20th century motoring.    The rain had returned in earnest, so we had an early lunch at the Greene…

Stow-on-the-Wold is the largest town in the Cotswolds.  As with many other towns in the area, it was an ancient wool town and was established in 947 AD.  The town sits at the crossroads of three trade routes at a high point in the region.  In the Middle Ages, much of the industry in the…

The northern and western edges of the Cotswolds are marked by a steep escarpment that leads down to the Severn River Valley and its tributary the River Avon.  The limestone of the escarpment was formed during the Jurassic period and is full of fossils, especially those of urchins.  The limestone has long been quarried to…

We woke up to rain this morning – much more than the 2mm potentially forecasted. So we dawdled over breakfast and coffee until the weather cleared a bit. Then it was a short drive to this morning’s walk through the pretty woods. The trail took us along the edge of a sheep field where we…

Our accommodation for the next week has a full kitchen and our plan is to cook most of our meals there, so today was partly about touring and partly shopping for provisions.  The Diddly Squat Farm Shop just south of Chippy was made ‘famous’ by a British TV show.  We don’t totally understand the fuss,…

We spent the day at the amazing baroque manor, Blenheim Palace in Woodstock.  A UNESCO site, Blenheim Palace is home to the current (12th) Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and was the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill.  The palace was built as a gift to General John Churchill, 1st duke of Marlborough from Queen Anne…

Despite being experienced travellers Dave made a rookie mistake this morning. While working on his Visa application for an upcoming business trip to India, he scanned his passport and promptly left it in the scanner. Not good when you need it later that day to fly to England. Oops! Thankfully Ryan was able to drive…