Cotswolds

I am fortunate to have a transition day - on a 6 hour train journey from Cheltenham Spa to Edinburgh - to catch up on my blog. We covered so much ground yesterday that I split the post into two, leaving the Cotswold section for today rather than snapping fleeting shots of countryside from a train window.

From Cheltenham and Tewkesbury yesterday we headed out towards the Cotswolds, with our first destination being Stanton. I haven't visited the Cotswolds before and was taken aback by the warmth, unity and richness of the stone which became more golden the closer we got.

As I mentioned yesterday, I was needing to be very selective in what I photographed, as I had not brought a back-up battery.

I couldn't, however, resist the sculptures bushes outside the cottage below.

We passed through Stanway

and into Stow-on-the-Wold

 through Broadway, crowded with tourists,

to Bourton-on-the-Water where we stopped to have lunch and walk around. It was a lovely place to stop, with the clear, narrow, shallow stream running right through the town, traversed by a series of low stone bridges.

We walked along the path, through the village to a favourite eatery of Christine and Eddie.

where we watched mothers play in the water with their kids, little kids getting very wet, people walking their dogs and lots of people enjoying the sun.

The car below would be a goer, I thought, for Floriade.

Back at the car park, Eddie took a photo to prove we'd been here. I'm glad to have proof that I finally wore the only short-sleeved top I brought with me!

After lunch we went looking for Sudeley Castle, where Christine had been a volunteer guide. It was once Catherine Parr's home. Jane Grey,  Ann Boleyn and Elizabeth I stayed there, as did Richard III and Charles I. 

We found the carpark and visitor centre twice, but never found a vantage point where we could see the Castle. We kept being diverted by roadworks and we laughed a lot. My battery was by now low, so I do not have photos of our loops and diversions. I can confidently say that the Sudelley Castle lands are extensive, that you dress up in Tudor clothes at the visitors' centre and there are pretty views. The castle has a number of Tudor Treasures. 

We came over the hills, through Guiting and back into Cheltenham where we stopped off at the Pump Room,

wound past the  Cheltenham College and Cheltenham Ladies' College,

the Cathedral and Town Hall. I was by now saving my remaining battery for the racecourse, so I have borrowed photos from my the school website. 

Cheltenham is a very fine city and I was once again fortunate in my guides. I wish I could capture the pleasure of being in the company of cousins and their partners. We have picked up after decades apart without missing a beat, laughed a lot, talked endlessly and shed a few tears. It has done me a great deal of good.

I am now comfortably established in my Edinburgh hotel with time to relax.

Tewkesbury and Cheltenham

We covered a fair bit of ground today. Christine and I walked around to her local Swindon Village Church of St Lawrence which was open this morning for a morning tea for the old folk of the village. The organisers thought they had their first customers, but recovered quickly to offer information about the church. The man in charge of the bells (6 peal) offered to show us around the tower but we explained that regretfully, my knees were not up to it. It is a keen group, very committed to their community.

The tower and pa rts of the chancel are Norman but the church was largely rebuilt in 1844-46.the hexagonal tower is one of only two in the country - the other also in Gloucester.

I noticed a few interesting tapestry kneelers

We walked home and set off by car to Tewkesbury. 

The Abbey Church of St Mary the Virgin in Tewkesbury is the second largest parish church in England and a former Benedictine Monastery. There has been a church on the site for 1200 years and the present building is 900 years old.

In spite of having the most medieval monuments outside of Westminster Abbey, it was open, light and uncluttered.

Perhaps part of the lightness comes from having the largest Romaneque dome in Europe.

There were some beautiful and moving monuments, including the simple floor plaque to Edward 

Westminster, Prince of Wales, last of the Lancastrians and son of Henry VI, killed, ages 17, at the Battle of Tewkesbury.

The House of Lancaster lost the battle of Tewkesbury and several survivors sort asylum in the Abbey. Part of the Yorkist Army broke in and slaughtered them, after which the Abbey was closed for a month, cleansed and reconsecrated.

There are a few nice touches - an upholstered tapestry chair

some beautiful stone carvings on the pulpit

a lovely pair of  abstract windows

a couple of industrial-scale heaters 

and a sale of plants in the north aisle! 

We left Tewkesbury for the Cotswolds.By this time I had realised I had come out today without my portable battery pack - and would run out of battery at the rate I usually take photos, so I rationed myself. I wanted to be sure I had sufficient battery for our last planned stop of the day. Even so, to do justice to the Cotswolds, I am going to post a separate blog.

I will however, post here the final stop of the day, for which I saved my battery.

Cheltenham Racecourse was a favourite of the Queen Mother, and patronised by the Queen, who came to Cheltenham by train, using a railway line saved, repaired and maintained by the Gloucester Warwickshire Steam Railway volunteers. During school holidays and race days steam trains operate to the station directly behind the grandstand. 

The grandstands at Cheltenham are still being extended

The racecourse looks vast

 

The box on the left side of the lower tier was where, before he retired, the company for whom Eddie, my cousin-in-law worked, entertained on race days. 

We covered a lot of ground today in this contained, small, varied and culturally rich region of England.  I am privileged to have had generous and knowledgable local guides. I will post about the Cotswolds separately.