Day out to Bourton-on-the-Water

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I was woken up by the bright sunlight coming through the curtains early in the morning. This made me change the plan. We decided to go to Bourton-on-the-Water on Monday, 20th June.

At my mother’s request, we popped in the post office in the Coop shop near the station. She bought 10 postcard stamps for Japan. We then walked on the Honeybourne Line’s footpath. There were quite a few walkers with dogs in the morning. I told my parents that the British are very fond of dogs and two in three families keep at least one dog. My mother also wanted to get the traveller cheques exchanged. Unfortunately, the Royal Scotland of Bank didn’t do that service. In the meantime, Mark said we needed to catch the 10:30 bus for Bourton-on-the-Water. The No.805 bus drove through lush hills and honey coloured houses.

Upon arrival at Bourton-on-the-Water, we decided to follow the circular course suggested by the guide book. We followed Rissington Road, walked past St Lawrence Church, guest houses and residential houses. All of the residential houses displayed lovely flowers which were well harmonised with honey coloured houses. After following the winding street, the signpost appeared. We saw a group of the Japanese tourists walking on the short trek around the river. We followed the narrow lane to the riverside. We found a number of picturesque corners with honey coloured houses, bridges, gently flowing river and trees along the riverside course. The footpath brought us back to the centre of the village.

My mother sat on the bench and started sketching the centre of Bourton-on-the-Water. There were several dogs playing in the water in the sunny morning. She included the grey dog splashing in the water in her sketches.

Next, we headed for Birdland. After paying for the admissions, we decided to have lunch at Penguin Café. My parents were surprised with the big portion of the Penini bread and its contents. We saw Furbot and Emperor Penguins, and a wide variety of birds, e.g. flamingos, pelicans, macaws, cranes, hornbills, owls, sturks, rainbow corikeets, etc on the site of Birdland. They all looked comfortable and happy in the peaceful environment surrounded by greens and water. The footpaths had been extended and more variety of birds were on view. We walked on the footpath of the nature reserve on the west edge of the site, which had been regenerated from the wasteland recently. Unfortunately, we weren’t given the chances to see birds and red squirrels from the hide and viewing platforms. We also explored the Discovery Zone and saw reptiles and a very friendly and talkative parrot, who was saying “Hello” “Good Afternoon” to us.

Afterwards, we decided to go back to the centre of the village. I found the post office and the message banner “We CAN exchange traveller cheques.” We popped in there and my mother got the traveller cheques exchanged. She was a little despondent that she was charged with the 15% of the commission.

We visited the Miniature Village, and looked round one third sized Bourton-on-the-Water. The details of the miniature village included historic buildings, Windrush river, bridges, honey coloured houses with boards of the commercial buildings, Catholic Church with the music of hymns, and an authentic watermill, which has been removed and the building has been converted to the Motoring Museum.
We caught the bus back to Cheltenham at 15:20. Mark had lost his umbrella while doing sightseeing in Bourton-on-the-Water. The weather had been varied. He bought a new one in Cheltenham.
It started raining while we were going back to the hotel on the Honeybourne Railway’s footpath, and continued raining till late evening. My parents decided to have a snack at hotel. We went to the Fish & Chips restaurant for our evening meal.

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