July 30.
We drove out to the Cotswolds today. First stop was a little village called Castle Combe - a historic town with links to the wool industry, spinning and weaving. We had a nice hike around the village and through some fields and back to the car. The houses in the village are all hundreds of years old and are mostly listed as national monuments. It calls itself “The Prettiest Village in England”, and quite fairly so. It has been the setting for several films - most likely because it is still so original. We found a home with some home-made cakes for sale outside on a table with an ‘honour box’ for payment, so we bought a carrot cake and carried on.
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Castle Combe main street. Note the entrance door that opens right
onto the street! |
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Reeeeeallly old window. Most old homes have replaced the windows with
more modern versions. This is the real deal from a long time ago. |
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| Little door about 5' high in the old timber frame. Love it. |
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| Unicorn cottage. They do exist! |
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| Another little door |
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| Beautiful rose-covered cottage. |
We then drove through Sherston, Bibury and Tetbury - another old wool town, before heading to Coates to visit some friends from Vancouver who have a place here where they spent the summers. They had just returned from a few weeks in France and were very busy trying to get their very large garden whipped back into shape before a houseful of company arrived from Canada. We had a nice visit touring their home and property, had some wine and carrot cake, and then left them to finish up their jobs. It was a very hot day . . . so we think it was very nice of us to show up during the hottest part so they could take a little break - ha!
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The town of Cirencester in the Cotswolds. Loved these
beautiful market streets - took this one from the car as
we were driving by so it's a bit blurry :-( |
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The cygnets are growing up - the white feathers are coming
through on this one. |
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| The growing swan family - soon they'll all have their white feathers |
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| Little stone bridge over the Coin River in Bibury |
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These little cottages in Bibury caught my eye - they were like hobbit houses.
When I looked up Bibury to see what I could find out about it, I learned these
are called the Arlington Cottages, and a picture of the village is on the inside
of the British passports. We didn't know we had stopped at a famous place!
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| Visiting with our friend Susan in Coates. |
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| As we were leaving Coates, this drove by us on the way to the car! |
We returned to Bath in time for a dinner date with another Shackell relative, Andrew, who is an avid genealogist. He knows so much history of the family, and told me where my great grandfather’s butcher shop had been (it’s now a shoe store - we stopped and had a look on the way home), as well as giving me information on the old family manor called Swainswick (in the town of Swainswick), and where there is a churchyard with a number of relatives buried in it. We spent a very enjoyable 2 or 3 hours with Andrew, and then arranged to meet him at the farm the next evening when we went for dinner. There is a large home on the Tadwick farm, which is actually two homes occupied by two Shackell brothers who operate the farm together.
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| Rooftop patio in Bath |
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Looking for the washrooms? Just past the antlers . . . oh, and don't ask
for washrooms. No-one has a clue what you want. |
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The row of houses called Margaret's Buildings - where my Grandpa
grew up in the centre of Bath. |
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Here's the entrance to the old butcher shop. It's now
a fancy shoe store. |
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Margaret's Buildings. The shoe store is about halfway
down on the right hand side. |
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