Winchcombe

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17 May 2008

Anyways, onto the point of all this - investigating the delights of the British Isles. From Tetbury I am exploring the southern part of Glos. You will do doubt recall that Pr Charles lives down the road from here ….. sad to say that the town like Cirencester which I also visited in common with many places in the UK and I dare say elsewhere is spoilt by traffic passing through and cars parked anywhere and everywhere. Lechlade and Fairford were similarly affected by the dreaded car and Stroud was a great disappointment. The delightful Cotswold countryside made up for the spread of urbanisation and once away from the towns the villages are very quiet, very pretty and really you only have to drive a couple of miles to find yourself on a different planet.

Many delightful churches although pride of place would go to Elkstone which has probably the most beautiful chancel arch in the country - certainly I have seen none better - a fifteenth century oak roof and fantastic lierne vaulting in the tower. Equally interesting are the intricate roof bosses in the chancel and nave of St Lawrence in Lechlade and the Saxon gravestone and Norman doorway of St Marys in Bibury. The latter is a delightful village with an incredible line of stone cottages - Arlington Row - owned by the National Trust. This is a must - but only early morning before the crowds because the village is a real ‘honeypot’.

There are numerous barrows marked on the OS map one of which I climbed into. This was pitch black but flash photography allows us to see what was hidden away. Also visited the ruins of the Roman villa at Chedworth … well worth a visit especially for the mosaics.

The rolling landscape is mostly intensively farmed so there is a lack of wildlife apart from the occasional hare and pleasingly a number of red kites. One morning I was motoring along a minor road when I spied what I took to be a pile of rags in the middle of the road. As I neared the ‘rags’ I realised that I was looking at a snake slowly slithering its way across the road. I braked hard and swerved to avoid the beast, pulled up and ran back but failed to find the snake so I am not sure but I think it was a slowworm or possibly a grass snake or …. Anyways on to Slimbridge WWT which I am sure you are aware was established by Scott (of Antarctic fame). This is somewhere I can really recommend with an interesting visitor centre, easy walks and easy to see birds. Some of the latter are so laid back that they could easily be picked up.

When the rain stops I am going for a walk around Cleeve Hill and then on to Tewkesbury to explore the abbey and battlefield (Wars of the Roses).

Take care

Steve

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