Blogs from Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 5

Georgian England must have been a strange place. The good folk were convinced of the healing powers of some rather disturbing looking water and towns and resorts sprung up all over the place, where those with a bit coin could come and take the waters. I look at the stuff they call water coming out of the taps in my sister’s house and remain very unconvinced. Cheltenham owes everything to the waters. The story goes that pigeons were found pecking at salt crystals near a spring and a Spa town was born. The town was so grateful, pigeons made it to the coat of arms of the new town, Cheltenham Spa. A bit of royal endorsement in the form of a visit from King George III in 1788 moved things on very nicely and the Cheltenham ... read more

It is Sunday and what better to do than have a lie in. We plan to take the short drive to Kingswood just below the Cotswold escarpment to check out some of the places one side of my mother’s family, came from. Mum’s father was born in New Zealand to immigrants who arrived in Wellington; NZ in the latter part of the 1800’s.Why they came to New Zealand is not clear but as far as I can find out my Great Grandfather was the only one of a large family to emigrate. Through various websites we have been able to follow their movements at 10 year intervals of English census’ in the village of Kingswood which back in the 1800’s had a sizeable mill like many of the villages surrounding Wotton-under-Edge, the principal town in the ... read more

Thur June 30 Had to leave a great B&B and off to the next. Got to Guiting Power Guest House around 9:15 to drop bags off and we weren't allowed as the host and hostess were still abed and were taking 24 hours off - come back at 4 pm. Well we went to the next door pub and a very friendly owner let us store our bags in a side shed and parkour cars later in the day. We drove to Naunton where I was to be dropped off for 3 hours. Only thing there besides a few houses was the Black Horse Pub. I panickedsince I would have to be in one spot for 3 hours at least I could only htink of yesterday when they were so long coming. Well the pub was ... read more

Should have known. The breakfast was good and then the guys dropped us off at the start of the walk near the coffee shop. Off they went but the coffee shop didn't open until 9 and we were trying for an early start as it was to be a long day. Right away we started uphill but the sun was out. We were warned of mud and we weren't disappointed. Mud 6 to 9 regularly through a wood... straddled puddles and made new pathways to try to avoid the sucking mud. Our mph was low. We came to an area with an electric fence and Ian warned us of the dangers and this one was right across our path. Since there was no other way we figured we'd chance it since it's only a pulse every ... read more

Started out okay - didn't go under any ladders or anything but something was working against us. The morning was nice with a super English breakfast and then R&I dropped Lynn and I for coffee in town while they drove our luggage to Mickleton and left one car and came back to us in the other. We hit the trail which was flat for about a half mile and then we started our first climb of the day. Not bad. Good view of the rain clouds in the east and those in the west. Later as we crossed an open field we stopped for a cookie under the only tree in sight and the thunder roared and lightening cracked. Now Ian is a grounding expert so we weren't to stand under a tree and we couldn't ... read more