Stow on the Wold ~ Day #5

It’s Tuesday and our 5th day in Jolly Old England. Today we spent a more leisurely day taking a short drive to a nice market town, Stow on the Wold. I’m doing a full post about this little town today since we are relaxing the afternoon and evening away at the cottage.

We visited this town last September with Josh and Laura but we only spent about a half hour here. Today we spent close to 2 hours walking around.

“Ancient and historic Stow on-the Wold is the highest town in the Cotswolds standing 800 feet above sea level. Stow is located at the junction of six roads making it an important and natural meeting place of the Cotswolds. One of the renowned Cotswold routes meeting in Stow is the famous Roman road – The Fosse Way. “

“History and hospitality is never far away in Stow. Stow is the location of the oldest inn in England with a history reaching as far back as 987AD.”

“The Square is a reminder of Stow on the Wold’s heritage as the Cotswold’s major sheep market. In one of his Cotswold travels writer Daniel Defoe once recorded that 20,000 sheep were sold during a single day. Another reminder of Stow’s past is the little alleys leading from the market square. These were intentionally built narrow and winding as a way to control and count sheep.”

” The Kings Arms on the market square hosted King Charles I before the Battle of Naseby in 1645.”

I had to take a photo of this reader board outside to help me with the timeline that our visit includes with the last week of the World Cup taking place while we are here.

There were several different “thrift” stores in this little town that I enjoyed poking around in. I bought a couple of things easy to pack and bring home with me.

“A much later addition to Stow is St Edwards Hall in the market square. This was built in 1878. Money for the building came from funds left unclaimed in the town Savings Bank. The Hall houses the public library and exhibitions of Civil War artifacts.”

When I get back home I’ll do a full post on the church of St. Edward that Dear and I spent some time in today in Stow.

On our way back to the cottage we stopped at Warner Budgens supermarket in Moreton on Marsh to buy our takeaway dinner items. We chose a Cotswold locally fresh, not frozen, made Beef, Guinness and Ale Pie and some minted green vegetables.

Pricey but it was enough for both of us to split.

You should have seen the nice wedge of butter on top of these veggies, these were not frozen either, just ready to microwave.

The meal was delicious and it’s nice to enjoy a leisurely afternoon and evening at the cottage with the sun shining and a nice cool breeze blowing in the open windows. There’s Dear in the kitchen area of the cottage.

Tonight I plan to stay up late and watch Brazil play Germany in the World Cup Semi-finals. It’s so weird to think everyone in our home time zone are just beginning your day and we are winding down. Hope all is well wherever you find yourselves today.

O Father, Hear My Morning Prayer ~ Hymn

O Father, Hear My Morning Prayer

O Father, hear my morning prayer,
Thine aid impart to me,
That I may make my life today
Acceptable to Thee.

May this desire my spirit rule,
And, as the moments fly,
Something of good be born in me,
Something of evil die.

Some grace that seeks my heart to win,
With shining victory meet;
Some sin that strives for mastery
Find overthrow complete.

That so throughout the coming day
The hours shall carry me
A little farther from the world,
A little nearer Thee.

Words: Frances A. Percy

Cheers From England ~ #2

We had a much needed good rest on Friday night. We woke up to birds singing and a light drizzle. Our second day in England and the Cotswolds specifically brought us to the town of Chipping Camden. We really enjoyed this town last year with Josh and Laura and it was nice to go back and explore it further. We also had the fun task of buying a few groceries to have at the cottage. We plan to cook an “English Breakfast” at the cottage on Sunday morning. We bought fresh eggs and a variety of sausages at the Butcher. We bought some tomatoes and mushrooms from the grocer. We bought a fresh baked loaf of bread from the Boulangerie. We bought some Damson Preserves and butter from another small shop on High Street. We also bought some local Cotswolds Cheese from the Cheesemonger. After we had all our supplies we enjoyed a great meal at the Eight Bells and had some fun talking World Cup Soccer with the locals. We braved some very narrow lanes to get to Snowshill to see some lavender fields in bloom, too.

Now we are back at the cottage and I hope to catch the Netherlands v. Costa Rica game on the telly soon.

Hope your Saturday is going well.

All Booked!

After very little discussion Dear and I decided that the best place to go to celebrate 40 years of marriage would have to be England. The discussion was easy, hitting the purchase button for the flights was a little more difficult but after we did it was full speed ahead to book places to stay. The first spot we chose is a self-catering cottage in a very small village in the Cotswolds. The photo above is the exterior of Fox Cottage. We will spend a leisurely 7 nights here and explore several towns and villages in the area. We’ll venture off as far as Oxford from this spot. “Self-Catering accommodation simply refers to an efficiency in which guests take care of their own meals, laundry and other needs. The accommodation provided has facilities that allows guest to cater for their own day to day needs. Self-Catering accommodation includes a suite with a fully equipped kitchen mainly for guest to prepare their own meals.”

The second spot we are going to stay for 3 nights in in Ross on Wye in Herefordshire. We chose this spot because we really want to visit Hay on Wye which is well known for Used Book Stores. Here’s what wiki says about this town “Hay-on-Wye, is a small market town and community in Powys, Wales, situated on the English border. Often described as “the town of books”, it is the National Book Town of Wales.”

On our way back to a closer proximity to London Heathrow we will re-visit the town of Henley on Thames. Dear and I stayed here in 1973 or 1974 with our Christian Rock Band. We will be staying for one night at the Red Lion that you see here on this old postcard. We hope to visit some of the villages around this area where Midsomer Murders was filmed. We will definitely visit the Argyle in town for a meal.

Our grand finale for two nights will be the Oakley Court in Windsor. Isn’t it grand? We will spend some time in the town of Windsor and if the Queen is not in residence at Windsor Castle we hope to have a tour. From Windsor we’ll make the short drive to London Heathrow and fly home.

Our actual anniversary isn’t until December but we are choosing to celebrate in England in July. The first 2 times Dear and I traveled to England together was in July of 1973 and July 0f 1974. During our trip in 1974 we were already engaged to be married with our wedding planned for December of that year. If anyone has any suggestions for places to visit in the areas of the Cotswolds, Oxford, and Southern Wales please let me know.

Hope you had a nice weekend. I know our Canadian Hockey Fans across the line enjoyed their Sunday. Congrats to Canada on winning the gold.

Stow on the Wold

Just the name of this market town makes you want to check it out. Looking back on our trip I’m already hoping to return and spend some more leisurely time here and there. The Cotswolds is one of the places I’d like to explore with time to just wander about. There was one thing I was determined to see during our very short time in Stow.

We needed to find The Parish Church of St. Edward.

The Parish Church of St. Edward was built between the 11th and the 15th century. The tower was the last part of the church to be completed in 1447. It is 88′ high and houses the heaviest peal of eight bells in Gloucestershire; it is also very prominent for miles around. The painting of the Crucifixion in the south aisle was painted by Gaspar de Craeyer (1582 – 1669), a contemporary of Rubens and Van Dyck. Many features of this outstanding Cotswold Church may be attributed to the town’s prosperity as a centre of the Wool Trade.

But all this cool history isn’t what motivated me to walk around this church…

I was looking for a special door I wanted to see. This is a cool door but it wasn’t the one I was looking for.

This is the door I was determined to see in person. Those are real trees that flank this door to the church. Pretty cool, yes?

We had to have the “we were here” photo taken! Another slightly different view. Can you tell I was excited about this door?

If I visit Stow again I think I would take tea at Lucy’s …

From the Cotswolds we headed Southwest to stay a night in the Cathedral City of Wells. Hope you aren’t getting tired of our England journeys. I’ve got lots more to share and we haven’t even gotten to Cornwall yet…

We have a fun weekend planned with lots of girlie things we hope to enjoy. October is half over. What are your plans for this weekend? Today (Wednesday) I’m just watching the leaves fall and I ordered a pizza to be delivered for dinner. There were a lot of leaves to watch after all…

Chipping Campden ~ Cotswolds

“Chipping Campden is one of the loveliest small towns in the Cotswolds and a gilded masterpiece of limestone and craftmanship. The main street curves in a shallow arc lined with a succession of ancient houses each grafted to the next but each with its own distinctive embellishments.”

“As the name suggests (“Chipping” means market or market place from the old English “Ceping”). Chipping Campden was one of the most important of the medieval wool towns and famous throughout Europe. This legacy of fame and prosperity is everything that give the town its character.

Campden was already established in the 7th century and derives its name from the Saxon “Campa-denu” or “Campadene”, meaning a valley with fields or enclosures of cultivated land.”

“For many visitors, Chipping Campden is the quintessential Cotswold town. It has a variety of building styles that have survived from all ages. Chipping Campden was one of the Cotswold’s main wool markets.”

World War I and World War II Memorials.

The ancient Market Hall was built in 1627 by Sir Baptist Hicks for a cost of £90.00. It was for the purpose of giving shelter to the local market selling cheese, butter and poultry – not wool as is sometimes thought.

Each corner of the building has a pediment, and each gable had a window which is now blocked up. The side arches have stone ballustrades and the floor is paved with stone.

We really enjoyed this small market town. There was a used bookstore in town where I found an Elizabeth Goudge book.

We also spent some time at St. James Church grounds and I’ll share those photos next along with some of it’s history.

I had a fun adventure with one of the “girls” last night and hope to share about that soon. It was a beautiful day on Wednesday here in the Seattle area. Hope all is well where you live…

HT: Chipping Campden Tourist Information.

An Evening Stroll…

…through the graveyard to dinner.

After settling in at the Old Manor House we asked for a recommendation for dinner and chose the “walk to” option. Strolling in the countryside is so rewarding.

We weren’t starving so we detoured slightly through the church yard.

We found out later that relatives of our host are buried in this church yard cemetery. It’s interesting to think of the years of history the family claims here.

It was fun to see these phone booths are still around.

Dinner just ahead at the Halford Bridge.

Beef and Yorkshire Pudding which is a regular offering on Sundays for many pubs.

We decided to share a dessert, too.

It was interesting to me to see most of the eateries we stopped in already were advertising for their Christmas meals so you could book ahead. Makes me think a lot of people eat out at Christmas which also means a lot of people work on Christmas…

I think I’ve only eaten out on Christmas once if that. Have you eaten out on Christmas or do you eat in?

Old Manor House…

…a luxury Bed and Breakfast in South Warwickshire, on the edge of the Cotswolds. This 16th Century home was our favorite. This great house is seven miles from Stratford Upon Avon and just one and a half hours from London.

We had a very good experience here and if we would travel back to England we’d book more than a night at this lovely manor to explore the area.

16th Century homes have some very unique features. Josh and Laura got the duck your head room!

Loved the windows…

One of the fun highlights of our time here was meeting Geoff and Joan, an older couple who were staying at the Old Manor House while we were there. We had a lovely time talking and getting to know their interesting history.

It was so interesting to learn that Joan was one of the “Call the Midwives” that served after World War II in the London Area. I asked her if she had seen the BBC series and she said that she really has enjoyed it and how accurate the show is.

I didn’t get a photo of our hosts but did get one of their adult son who was helping out while we were there with breakfast and taking care of a new litter of pups.

Speaking of breakfast…it was a delicious version of the traditional English breakfast.

We highly recommend the Old Manor House. Tomorrow I’ll share photos from our short walk to “The Halford” where we enjoyed our Sunday Pub Dinner.

Back on the home front…

My niece Michelle shared these words from my dear old Pop on Sunday when they visited him…
“You know, it’s hard without your Baba. I have tears. But God is with me. And so I get up and go on again. God is love. And when His love is in you, you feel His comfort. I’m thanking Him for all He’s given me. He is good.”
Today when I talked to him on the phone he said, “I’m not going to lie, it’s hard.” We talked about how great it is that he has good memories. “Yes, he said, God has been good to us.” By the way today he went to “Staplers” (Staples) to buy a board so he could put together a jigsaw puzzle Ryan and Michelle bought him…
Thank you for remembering him in your prayers!!

Stratford Upon Avon…

On our way to the Old Manor House in Halford on the edge of the Cotswolds we stopped for a couple of hours in Shakespeare’s Stratford Upon Avon.

We were intrigued with a property that had both the Union Flag and the U.S. flag and walked in to tour the property. Here’s a link that gives the history of this property.

An old fashioned confectioners on High Street.

This is Shakespeare’s birthplace right in the middle of town on Henley Street right across the street from Peter Rabbit!

This town is a full vibrant town with plenty of history, shops and eateries to enjoy. This was a Sunday so some shops were closed and many were closing at five. We had our fill of being on the road and shopping on this day and headed a little south in search of our Bed and Breakfast. I’ll devote a full post to the Old Manor House in Halford as it was our favorite B & B experience this time around in England.

One of the shops that I wish was open was this shop. I really wanted that tea bag holder…

We’ve had several days of sunshine here in the Seattle area and took care of some outdoor work we needed to do. First load of leaves, mostly what we call helicopter seeds, have fallen from the huge maple in our neighbor’s yard on to our drive and lawns. Very soon we’ll have several more leaves fall that will need to be taken care of. For a day or two we are enjoying a nice neat and tidy yard. We pulled out 3 arbor vitae and took them back to Home Depot for a refund since they didn’t do well and had turned brown.

Hope you had a nice October weekend!

A Wee Glimpse…

of the Cotswolds…

Extra credit to anyone who can identify the B.B.C. series that the church in the bottom right hand corner was used in…

Tomorrow is our last full day in England. We spent a very long day in London today and we are bushed. No rain but cloudy all day. The last days of summer are winding down.

Since it’s hard to tell without all the sets adorned I’ll tell you that this is the church from Downton Abbey where Mary Grantham got married and Sybil got left at the altar…

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: Cotswolds