Just back from a very pleasant week in the Cotswolds, preceded by a weekend in Bath with friends. The weather wasn’t always kind but it improved as the week went on. It was, however, very difficult to believe that it was the end of June on a couple of days when the temperature was more typically representative of a typical cold British autumnal day.
Never been to Bath before and thoroughly enjoyed it. Good company, very pleasant city centre and excellent ‘refreshments’. Particularly enjoyed a stroll around the Abbey and of course a gentle walk around the town provided architectural gems aplenty. Went to the Royal Crescent (designed by John Wood the Younger) but was much more impressed with the Circus (1754-1768), started by architect John Wood the Elder and completed by his son, which seemed an altogether more interesting and impressive achievement. Special mention to the accommodation at Tracy Park Hotel just outside the city centre, which was terrific.
Next stop for us was The Burleigh Court Hotel, from where we visited Painswick, Tetbury and Minchinhampton. Picked the hotel specifically to be fairly near to Painswick so it was moderately embarrassing to discover that we had been there before and I had seemingly completely erased it from memory. Definitely worth a second visit though. Also visited Woodchester Mansion, which is an unfinished gothic revival house started but never completed by one William Leigh. Conserved as it was left in the 1870s, it’s a real find and worth a half day of anyone’s time. Managed to see an English Heritage site (Nympsfield Long Barrow, a Neolithic burial chamber), which, sadly for any Yorkshireman who has paid to join English Heritage, was free. The Burleigh Court Hotel was excellent, especially the food and service, once you’d got used to the old fashioned but delightful method of ringing a bell to request something.
Next stop was the Wyck Hill House Hotel just outside Stow on the Wold, which was by far the most disappointing stay of the trip, compounded by the fact that it was also the most expensive.. The accommodation was extremely poor, especially given that it was supposedly refurbished around three years ago – difficult to believe I’m afraid. Yet again though, the restaurant and food were very good. It was bad enough to complain and get a significant reduction. From here we visited Bourton on the Water, which was as pretty as we had been led to believe, but was horrendously busy. I appreciate that tourism is its mainstay but I feel for the locals – it was heaving with not just the independent traveller but shedloads of organised tours and coach parties at a level which didn’t seem sustainable. We walked to Lower Slaughter, which was much quieter, just as pretty and with far less tea shops. Still had two large hotels though! We also went to Burford, which has a lovely but very busy main high street, and Moreton in Marsh, which I thought was a bit disappointing. A quick whistle stop walk around Stow on the Wold and it was time to check out and head home.
As any sane and well rounded individual would do when visiting one of the most beautiful parts of England, I spent a little bit of time staring in shop windows (estate agent windows to be precise). This perfectly rational behaviour did at least illustrate rather surprisingly that you could buy a very pleasant property in parts of the Cotswolds for no where near as much money as you would think. Comparable properties were often cheaper than in Suffolk, which is not what I expected.