Advertisement
Published: August 8th 2010
Edit Blog Post
Excursion to Bibury
We were going to catch the bus 12:30 for Bibury. Unfortunately, the bus didn't turn up. Mark rang the Cotswolds Green, the bus company, to enquire, and found that the next bus would be at 15:30. We decided to take the taxi. While I was in the taxi, I realised that No.855 bus runs between Mondays and Thursdays. It was our fault that we didn't realise the dates that the 855 bus runs. The taxi driver was very friendly, and he said that Bibury is a very beautiful village. He dropped us off at the Trout Farm. Mark gave tips to the taxi driver for his kindness and friendly manner. We soon were able to recognise the Swan Hotel, and the River Colin. Mark and I had a picnic lunch by the river. The sun was shining, and we were able to see the aquatic plants and ducks and swans swimming.
Arlington Row
Sachi found the way to access to Arlington Row. We walked along the Rack Isle where the weavers used to dry clothes or wool on racks after washing and dyeing, and it has been converted to the wildfowl reserve managed by the National Trust.
William Morris once visited Bibury and commented that Bibury was the best preserved English village. We could confirm his comment when we saw the well-preserved weavers' cottage, i.e. Arlington Row. We all took pictures of the 17th century cottages from different angles. Colourful flowers were displayed by the window of each property of the cottages. We heard that nearly all the cottages are owned and preserved by the National Trust.
We crossed over the bridge and walked on the Street. We walked past Bibury Post Office (closed due to the lunch hours), Diane Breen Gallery, the former almshouse, and the village hall.
St Mary Church
We found St Mary Church in a quiet corner of Bibury. Despite the isolated position, we felt the church was welcoming us. We were greeted by beautiful rose arches on the way to the entrance. There were illustrations of the furniture and ornaments with the description of the brief history drawn in the leaflets, which we found extremely helpful. Having discovered a number of fragments and debris of the ornaments which would have been attached to the canopies, St Mary's Church's history dates from the late Saxon era, and some of these were
displayed in the church. The church's furniture and ornaments were added and it was enlarged between 10th and 18th century. We found the 15th century timber roof, 18th brass skeleton tombs, 13th century grisaille stained glass with foliage patterns, 15th century Perpendicular window and 13th century saw lancet windows, and we learnt that one of the stained glass windows was used for the 1992 Christmas stamps.
We went back to Arlington Row. We walked on the hill and rambled around Arlington. Sachi continued walking round the village and looking at the details of houses' architecture. Mark and I went to the Trout Farm shop. Mark found the guide book including the map and detailed history of the historic buildings in Bibury and he bought it for me.
Arlington Mill
Arlington Mill, which stands near the Trout Farm, is one of the historic buildings; it was used for cleaning the wool cloth produced by weavers at Arlington Row in the 16th century, and it was used as a corn mill in the 19th century. The mill has not been used since 1913. The ownership of the mill passed to David Verey, an architectural historian. He tried to restore the
building of the mill as a museum, but his farsightness prevented from doing the project and sadly he died in 1984. His family kept the museum open between 1985 and 1995. Early in 1995, after a change of the ownership, the mill machinery was totally overhauled. The mill has been converted to the tearoom with outside terrace by the millstream and well-stocked gift shop.
Trout Farm
We learnt from the guidebook of the Bibury that there used to be water cress beds in Bibury till 1902, and the site has been converted to the trout farm, and has become one of the tourist attractions of the Cotswolds.
We decided to explore the Trout Farm. Bibury has become famous for the rainbow trout which been bred, grown and proliferated in the farm. All of the herbal plants, annual flowers and aquatic plants were thriving in June 2010, and they made the picturesque farm even more attractive and charming. We saw a shoal of mature brown trout and flocks of ducks, and mallards, and a couple of coots, herons, and kingfishers on the ponds. We also spotted the farm where roes of trout have been bred and looked after. We came
back to the gift shop and bought a couple of souvenirs.
We walked to the Swan Hotel and old Lock up. As expected, Swan Hotel looked a very elegant and luxurious hotel, and the patrons were offered the lovely garden in front of the hotel. We found the beautiful tearoom and courtyard, and we found it expensive. There were quite a few swans swimming in the Colin River. No wonder the hotel is named "Swan Hotel".
We took the bus back to Cirencester and Cheltenham. Mark and I checked where and when we would catch the bus from Bibury and Cirencester.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.072s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 14; qc: 33; dbt: 0.0447s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb