Cirencester - Day 2

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Today we headed south from Cirencester on the A429. As we passed the airfield at Kemble we caught a glimpse of some seriously large aircraft. In the glimpses that we had through the hedgerows we also saw some bunkers? Large Nissan-hut shaped lumps with turfed roofs. That had us thinking that the airfield is probably a former air-force base so it probably has some long runways for BA’s larger aircraft to land on for maintenance?

We arrived in Castle Combe around 10.00am so it wasn’t too busy. We parked in the public parking area above the village and walked down through a tree-shaded valley into Castle Combe. The castle that it was named for, built by Sir Walter de Dunstaville in the 13^th-century, is long gone and all that remains is a pretty little village beside the By Brook. St Andrew’s Church features a tower built in 1434 by the local cloth merchants and the tomb of Sir Walter dating to 1270.

Although there weren’t hordes of tourists at this hour, those that were around were such posers!! Honestly, we just don’t understand why everyone wants to be IN their photo of England’s prettiest village? It was an exercise in patience trying to photograph around all the pouters taking photographs for their Instagram feeds. We might have bigger cameras than most tourists who are using their phones, but at least we hold them to our eye to take our photos while they have their phone at arm’s length. Smaller camera, but much more obtrusive in our opinion. Of course I am sure we photo bomb other people’s shots but we do try to be mindful about walking into other tourist’s photos. Bernie clambered down beside the By Brook to take a photo of St Andrew’s behind the bridge over the brook. In fact, he was probably in the book because he clambers back up with a wet foot.

We walked back up the hill and set the SatNav for National Trust property, Dyrham Park. After a short drive along the B4039 we turned off onto a lane that ran along the south side of the M4 across the A46 and into Dyrham Park’s parking area … which we had to pay for. Our Australian NT membership entitles us to free entry to the property, but we don’t have the necessary QR code on our cards to scan into the parking machine. While Bernie was stuffing around trying to download the parking app we started talking to a lady scanning her membership card and before we knew it she had organised her daughter to scan her membership card to get us a free parking ticket. People can be so friendly and generous!

We walked from the car to the gate and the WCs and, just when I think there cannot be any more to be said about toilets, I am surprised, yet again. Ever since London completed its sewerage system and Thomas Crapper popularized the flushing toilet in the Victorian era, plumbers have been trying to perfect it with all sorts of fandangled ideas. Today’s surprise was a child-sized toilet seat that could be placed down over the standard toilet seat to make it more comfortable for people with little bottoms to use!

We walked down to the mansion along the Main Drive and made our way to the café for some lunch. The offerings in the NT cafés is OK and their packaging says that buying their food helps to maintain their properties. After eating we made our way around to the West Terrace and the main entrance of the house. The house is in the baroque style and was created in the late 1600s by William Blathwayt who was an English diplomat, public official and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1685 and 1710. He established the War Office as a department of the British Government and played an important part in administering the English colonies of North America during the joint reign of William of Orange and Mary II. As a politician administering England’s new colonies in North America this is another gentleman who was actively involved in the exploitation of the indigenous peoples through transatlantic slavery.

From the house we made our way our way back to the West Terrace. The terrace is undergoing a project at the moment to reinstate the parterre garden. At the moment the flagstones have been ripped up and the terrace is decorated with a mini excavator! From the terrace we walked up the path to St Peter’s Church before continuing our exploration of the formally planted The Avenue and the less formal Pool Gardens.

We decided to return to the car via The Prospect Walk as the map indicated some scenic viewpoints on this route. We also thought it might be less strenuous than the Main Drive which was going to entail a long slog back uphill to the car park. We walked up the path past the Statue of Neptune which brought us to the Old Lodge Café. We spied a man with ice-cream in a cone so we hunted down ice-creams. Not in the café, but in the kiosk beside the children’s play area.

We completed the rest of the walk which offered up view, albeit somewhat hazy, of the Severn Valley towards the Welsh hills. We walked through the pastures that until recently have been home to a herd of deer. Unfortunately the herd contracted Bovine Tuberculosis and after considerable effort to control the disease, the difficult decision was make to cull the entire herd. The fields will lie fallow now for about four years and they will instigate a program to inoculate all of the badgers against bTB. The badgers carry the virus so inoculating them will assist in the effort to have a disease-free herd again in the future.

The SatNav took us ‘home’ by the quickest route which had us joining the M4 not far from Dyrham House. We took the exit onto the A429 and drove back past Kemble Airport. I confess to having my eyes closed at this stage, but Bernie tells me that there was a dedicated plane spotter who was pulled up in the lay-by opposite who had come with a ladder to prop against the hedgerow so that he could see the aeroplanes!!

For dinner tonight we ventured out to Piazza Fontana for an Italian meal. Our host, Kathleen, tells us this is the original, family run Italian Restaurant in Cirencester. There are a couple of new Italian restaurants which are in fancier buildings. Piazza Fontana is hidden down a lane, but the food was good and the family running it were characters!!



Steps: 16,022 (10.63 kms)

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