The Cotswolds 2022

It’s been a while since my last post on our trip to England in September of this year. I have a goal to finish my posts before the end of the year. Our tour with Go Cotswolds, a small family owned touring company, was called Cotswolds in a Day.

On Thursday September 15th (two months ago!) we walked to the Oxford Train Station to be picked up for our day in the Cotswolds. At the station while waiting for the tour van we met another couple waiting for the tour. We enjoyed getting to know them and connecting some dots in our backgrounds that intersected. The rest of the tour group arrived and we hit the road for our first stop which was Chipping Campden. We had a set amount of time to enjoy the village. We chose to spend our time at St. James Church. That will be a separate post.

In 2013 and in 2014 we visited Chipping Campden and my posts are here in 2013 and here in 2014.

From Chipping Campden we stopped at Dover’s Hill for some panoramic views.

It was breezy!

On the way to Snowshill we passed The Broadway Tower.

St. Barnabas Church in Snowshill

Snowshill village sits on the top of the escarpment above the villages of Broadway, Buckland, and Laverton. It is a secluded village where ancient pretty cottages and a 19th century church cluster around a small green. As its name implies – if there is any snow about then you will find it here first.

This was our tour group on this day.

In 2014 Dear and I enjoyed this little village and my post is here.

The weather was good with beautiful skies. Our next stop was Moreton in Marsh where we would enjoy some lunch which left little time to explore.

I hurried from our lunch table at the Talbot Inn so I could get some photos of the wonderful door on the back side of St. Edward’s Church.

If you walk around the churchyard towards the north porch, you will stumble upon what’s known locally as ‘The Yew Tree door’ or ‘The Hobbit door’.

“Speak friend and enter”

In 2014 we had more time in Stow on the Wold and my posts with more information are here and here.

Next time the villages of Bourton on the Water and Bibury.

The Cotswolds!

We had a wonderful tour of 5 villages in the Cotswolds today with a great small touring company called Go Cotswolds.

Met some nice people and saw some very quaint villages. Our walk to the railway station was short and we met some kindred spirits that were on our tour before we were picked up by our tour company. More about our tour when we get home and do a day by day recap.

Who You Calling Old Hodgepodge

We had to have the “we were here” photo taken! This door is in Stow on the Wold in the greater Cotswold area of England. This door is at the back of the Parish Church of St. Edward built within the 11th and 15th century.

Jo From This Side of the Pond has some ‘old’ questions for us this week. Click over to join in.

1. How would you define ‘old’? At what age is someone old?

I define old as ten years older than me. The older I get the older ‘old’ becomes. I only feel old when I look in the mirror or try to stand up off the couch. 🙂

2. A place you’ve been that’s old? Tell us something about your visit there.

Jolly Old England. Oh how I hope to be able to enjoy that land at least once more in my lifetime. There is something old around every corner…really old. Ancient doors and hall ways. Old majestic cathedrals. Cobblestones and thatched roofs. The oldest pub or Inn in all of England. Many pubs and Inns claim that fame. Old church yards and graveyards and churches.

c.947AD

3. Something you miss about the ‘good old days’? When were they anyway?

I’ll pick the ‘good ole days’ before computers and cell phones. The days where you had to catch up with a letter or have a long catch up conversation after church or on the phone. When you got information by reading the newspaper. The days when you actually got news during the news hour and not just opinions and made up stuff.

4. In what way are you a ‘chip off the old block’? Or if you’d rather, in what way is your child a ‘chip off the old block’?

I have some chips off both blocks. Our dear mom would get inspirations to do things and have to scramble to gather up the materials and get er done. I do the same. Our dear old pop had to be on time or early to events and made sure to leave the house in plenty of time to get there. My Dear always makes the comment to me when I say ‘time to go’; “okay Moisi”.

photo credit: Jeremy Leffel

5. Old fashioned, Old Testament, old timer, same old same old, old glory, good old boy, old wives tale…choose an ‘old’ phrase that relates to something in your life or the wider world currently and explain.

“Don’t guilt trip me.” It’s the way of some leaders and media and general population right now. It’s divisive and I don’t like it. When my head hits the pillow each night I want to have a clear conscience. It’s most important for me to have a clear conscience before God. That’s the best way for me not to suffer from someone trying to impose a guilt trip upon me.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Speaking of England let’s not forget about the delightful world of Beatrix Potter.

We knew about this shop in Gloucester and were determined to visit it while we were in Gloucester 41 years after I started my collection. We were there in 2014.

There are lots of shops relating to Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit in England.

Happy middle of September everyone. Next week…Glorious Fall begins!

Tough Times for Tea Rooms…

On the letter T for the A to Z Challenge and I’m choosing Tea Rooms and Tea. I hope all the Tea Rooms in Great Britain survive the COVID-19 shut down! All these photos are from our trip to England in July of 2014.

Although we passed quite a few tea rooms while we were in England I only had tea once and it wasn’t in a tea room. Oye. I will show you many lovely tea rooms that you can choose from if you travel to England. Lucy’s was in Stow on the Wold.

This one was in Broadway in the Cotswolds.

Our daily timing was way off for stopping to enjoy a cup of tea in the afternoon. By then we were usually a bit warm and needed something cooler to drink.

Love the name of this one, Mrs. T. Potts…pretty clever. It was real close to Martha’s coffee house on the main street running through Moreton in Marsh.

On our way to Banbury we saw Mrs. Brown’s Tea room.

In Bourton on the Water there were a few tea rooms to choose from.

This restaurant/tearoom was less appealing than the Small Talk Tearoom above.

If we didn’t manage to walk right past a tearoom we enjoyed seeing signs for tearooms.

We got a little closer to a proper tea experience with these delicious scones and clotted cream but the drink of choice on this morning was coffee in Hay on Wye.

On one of our last days in England I decided it was high time to have some tea so as not to totally disappoint my tea drinking readers.

It wasn’t the finest of tea services in the bar of our hotel. The scones were no where near as nice as the ones we had in Hay on Wye.

This was my tea and tea experience. One hot and the other one cold. The cold one may or may not have had some alcohol in it.

Like I mentioned at the beginning of this post I hope that the many tea rooms in Great Britain will survive the COVID-19 lock down. We are hoping that things will look good enough come September for us to keep our flight and apartment reservations for Oxford, England. We wait and we’ll see.

What is your favorite tea? Do you have a favorite Tea Room? Have you ever attempted to host a proper Tea?

Need a Tea Break?

Since we are all friends I have a confession to make…

…although we passed quite a few tea rooms while we were in England I only had tea once and it wasn’t in a tea room. Oye. I will show you all the lovely tea rooms that you can choose from if you travel to England.

This one was in Broadway in the Cotswolds.

Our daily timing was way off for stopping to enjoy a cup of tea in the afternoon. By then we were usually a bit warm and needed something cooler to drink.

Love the name of this one, Mrs. T. Potts…pretty clever. It was real close to Martha’s coffee house on the main street running through Moreton in Marsh.

On our way to Banbury we saw Mrs. Brown’s Tea room.

In Bourton on the Water there were a few tea rooms to choose from.

This restaurant/tearoom was less appealing than the Small Talk Tearoom above.

If we didn’t manage to walk right past a tearoom we enjoyed seeing signs for tearooms.

We got a little closer to a proper tea experience with these delicious scones and clotted cream but the drink of choice on this morning was coffee.

On one of our last days in England I decided it was high time to have some tea so as not to totally disappoint my tea drinking readers.

It wasn’t the finest of tea services in the bar of our hotel. The scones were no where near as nice as the ones we had in Hay on Wye.

This was my tea and tea experience. One hot and the other one cold. The cold one may or may not have had some alcohol in it. Most of our afternoon tea experiences looked more like this…

Not too light, not too dark, and it had to be ice cold.

Katie and Andrew are moving into their new apartment today. I’ve been cleaning off some furniture we had in the garage for them to use. As soon as I get the call that they are close to the apartment with the pod of their stuff I’m heading over to do what I can to help. I have 2 fans in the car because it’s warm today and their 4th floor apartment is not air conditioned. On most days here in the Western Washington area you can live comfortably without A/C. I don’t think we’ll be drinking tea this afternoon…

Happy Monday to you all!

Stow ~ The Church of St. Edward

Ancient and historic Stow on-the Wold is the highest town in the Cotswolds standing 800 feet above sea level.

One of the historic Cotswold buildings in Stow on the Wold is the church of St Edward.The church is primarily a product of the 11th century with later additions in the 15th century. Quite apart from the lovely architecture, the church has a significant historical connection with the Battle of Stow on the Wold. The battle was the final conflict of the English Civil War.

Seeing this church door flanked by the ancient Yew trees is what first drew me to making Stow on the Wold a must see town in the Cotswolds. Here’s the inside photo of this great door.

The 88ft high 4-stage tower, completed in 1447, is a conspicuous landmark with an embattled parapet with pinnacles and a string course with gargoyles.

In 1646 a Royalist army marched through the Cotswolds in a desperate attempt to join up with King Charles at Oxford. They were finally confronted at Stow on the Wold by a Parliamentary force. The fighting was fierce and deadly. The Royalists were defeated and over 1000 imprisoned within the church.

We made a quick stop in this town on our trip in September of 2013, this time we stopped for a longer stay and enjoyed spending some time inside the church of St. Edward.

This portion of 1 Chronicles 16 was sculpted from Cotswold Stone

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice:
and let men say among the nations, The Lord reigneth.
Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof:
let the fields rejoice, and all that is therein.
Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the Lord,

When we were done inside the church we walked around this small market town and enjoyed visiting some of the shops.

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

It’s amazing to think these buildings have been standing for so long. I’m always blown away by the history in the places we visit in England.

Travel Tips for Stow-on-the-Wold. The market square has free two hour parking but when your two hours are up you have to move your car out of the square and find parking at other lots close by. The Fosseway long term parking near Tesco is said to have free parking. When you see “no returns” that means you can’t just change the spot your car is parked in. There is a good variety of shops and places to eat in Stow. We strolled through a few “thrift” stores in town which usually have names like Oxfam, Blue Cross, and others that benefit Hospice care or heart research, etc.

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross ~ Hymn

Because I am in England currently I wanted to post an English hymn writers song…

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Isaac Watts (1707)
Isaac Watts was one of the most prolific of all English hymn writers. Today, he is referred to as the “Father of English Hymnody.” Out of his nearly 800 hymn texts “When I Survey” is considered to be his best and most poignant. Watts wrote the song to help Christians be “prepared for the Holy Ordinance of the Lord’s Supper.” The song brings the believer from personal reflection, to bold testimony, to total surrender. “Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.”

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o’er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

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.

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…

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

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