An early start for Ros and David who left Bath for St Ives.

Steve and I sorted our bags and cleared the apartment and were on the road by 9

The next few days we are wandering the Cotswolds. People love this area. There are always debates about which is the cutest villages.

I will run my own survey !

First up Castle Combe. A very small village, it was quiet apart from a few meandering tourists.

This tiny village was used in the movie War Horse and there was a display about this in the local church

I’d heard about Painswick from two people. One was a lecturer in my arts group who lectured for ArtsNational last year. She lives there and recommended a visit.

The second is one of the therapy girls, Donna whose rugby-0playing son played the the region and lived in Painswick.

It’s beautiful. The Main Street is narrow with some lovely shops. The side streets have beautiful houses, an arts centre with a good cafe, a church in a large park with lines of trees. Donna told me 99 trees were planted there.

The local cafe in the arts canteen was buzzing. Lots of lovely local ladies meeting for coffee and lunch. They chatted in what to me sounded like posh English accents and were dressed very ladylike.

The Painswick hotel was recommended for afternoon tea…… and is as lovely as it looked – but we had cute villages to see.

Next stop Nailsworth. A lovely Main Street.

Studeley Castle and Gardens sounded great so we drove down narrow lanes to get there only to find out it was closed. We’ll have to come back.

It was time for Stow on the Wold. Our room for two nights is in The Porch – reported to be the oldest inn in England. Well I’m not sure if that fact, but it’s old. Up and down steps, low doorways, beams, old lights, dark common rooms but very comfortable rooms. Ours overlooked the small park opposite.

We walked up the Main Street to the town square. Beautiful old honey coloured buildings. Lots of city shops, including a 3 story antique shop. So much in there. So well organised! My friend Ginetta would love it.

I found the town library. Modern looking inside a very old building. I think this village might be right up there with the best of the Cotswolds. Certainly consider this as a base for exploring the area.

The gardens of the Cotswolds are renowned. Mondays most are closed so we missed the famous Rococo gardens in Painswick and Studeley. Today we stoped at the old market town of Burton and bought a few things. And headed for Bourton Gardens.

The beautiful house was closed to the public but the gardens are open

We loved it. The white garden was stunning, and the way the garden was laid out was fascinating.

Another thing that is common to many UK gardens is the over planting. In Australia we tend to plant more sparingly. Here it almost looks crowded.

Nearby was the railway museum. Naturally Steve wanted to visit there. By luck the old steam train was about to leave.

Finally got to Studeley house and gardens. It was important during the reign of Henry V111 and is now maintained by the present owner and its priority is living in harmony with the animals of the world. Hence the elephants in the gardens

Our second day of wandering the Cotswolds took us up to Broadway – probably one of the best for a base with it’s lovely pubs, restaurants, shops etc. – very pretty place. It was hosting an arts festival when we were there. Lots of painters in the streets.

Then Bourton Upon Water. Again soooo pretty but suffering a little from tourists so losing its small village feel

Burford a lovely medieval village. Chipping Norton home to the car man …… Jeremy Clarkson.

Then into Oxford. Very grand buildings, very crowded. Full of students flying around in their gowns. It’s exam time and they must wear their gown with a flower on the lapel.

I went to an Art Society lecture at Magdalen College. Similar to my ArtsNational lectures. It was great meeting people from Oxford who follow the arts.

And our final morning was spent at the lovely Oxford Botanical Gardens. A very interesting garden with an excellent’Plants as medicine ‘ section. Well labelled. And a literary section

At the end of the day a beautiful lunch in a small village pub on our way back to Bill and Marie France in Rusper.