Introduction
R and I were invited on this year’s Ashram Holiday, staying near Stow-on-the-Wold in the Cotswolds. It’s not very far from where we live, but neither of us had ever visited the area.
Saturday: Kelmscott and Great Coxwell
On the first full day the entire group drove south (and technically out of the Cotswolds) to visit Kelmscott Manor, which was the home of well-known 19th century designer William Morris and his family. It’s now a museum filled with lots of examples of their textiles and such.
On the way back we stopped at Great Coxwell tithe barn, which is a very large T-shaped barn that was built for Beaulieu Abbey in about 1292.
We stopped briefly at Lechlade on the way back.
Sunday: short local walk
On Sunday we took a short walk around the local area, beginning by walking along some country lanes and past a local brewery.
We looked inside St Mary’s church in the village of Upper Swell.
Slightly alarmingly, another plaque in the floor commemorated the death of Revd. Samuel Marshall, in 1711. I made it outside with no ill effects, however, and we walked back to the place we were staying.
In the afternoon we walked out to Stow.
Monday: cooking and Condicote
R and I were down to cook the evening meal on Monday so we spent a good chunk of the day on that. In the afternoon when it was ready, we took a short walk to the nearest village of Condicote, which doesn’t have much except a church.
Tuesday: Bourton-on-the-Water
We took the bus to the nearby small town of Bourton-on-the-Water. It’s very pretty and has many tourist shops, but the best part is the model village.
Walking back, we stopped at the mill in Lower Slaughter (great name), which has a small museum. The previous day had been the village’s annual fête and there were still some decorations tied up.
Our route led through Upper Slaughter, which is also less dangerous than it sounds, although there is a ford.
We returned to our cottage via an old Roman road, which is now a fairly straight footpath and is signed as unsuitable for vehicles. Presumably chariots are okay.
Wednesday: Rollright Stones
The Rollright Stones is a collection of three Neolithic / Bronze Age stone monuments. The first, called the King’s Men, is a stone circle. Not quite as impressive as Stonehenge, but at least you can get up close to it.
A short distance away, the Whispering Knights is apparently the earliest of the monuments.
The final monument is called the King Stone.
Thursday: longer local walk
We took a longer walk around the local area, starting toward the village of Broadwell.
We then took lanes and footpaths back to Stow.
Stow Church has a back door which is universally referred to as ‘Tolkienesque’ because it’s quite small and has two trees growing right next to it.
We went back via Lower and Upper Swell.
Friday
We left on Friday morning.
That’s all. It was a really nice holiday, quite varied and with some lovely countryside (albeit a slight shortage of derelict buildings). Maybe we’ll visit the area again some time.