Cotswold Way

Several days into our walk in little villages throughout the Cotswolds Cassie noticed brochures for the 250th anniversary of the annual Jane Austen Festival in Bath. Our preplanned extra days at the end of this adventure culminate in Bath and just so happened to coincide with the JA festivities.
We’ve had many happy accidents on this trip. We’ve also discussed that these “happy accidents” could also be named “your on your intended path, please continue occasions.” So we continue to follow our path in more ways than one and soak in all the things by planning to see the grand promenade or parade of people in period costume and see what else Bath had in store for us.

We left our stay at the Windylands in Old Sodbury in an Uber to the be dropped off right at the beginning of the Jane Austen parade. Thousands of people turn out in costume and full dress and finery and a band of fully decked out red uniformed soldiers played as the throng followed. Cassie videoed and snapped pictures until her iPhone went dead and her cheeks hurt from smiling. I stood in stunned fascination most of the time with what I saw were hours and hours of planning and sewing and hand crafting of some really incredible gowns and hats and men’s coats and boots. These participants really got into the hair and makeup as well as acting the part of aristocrats, lords, ladies, maids and merchants.

After, we looked in shops and a Jane Austen style market place with every manner of costumes and accessories available to purchase. I am sure these patrons add a little bit to their costumes every year at this special market.

We walked along the canal and really enjoyed the sights complete with people everywhere in period clothing bringing it all to life and sending us back in time.

We arrived at our AirBnB later in the day and were met by Richard and Lizzie the owners of a fine manor for the past 40 years. The giant weeping willow in the garden was planted by them when the first arrived. They told us how it’s changed from a farm where the road to bath went right past the huge barn to a stately neighborhood now and the barn was converted to a modern residence. We met one of their daughters and really enjoyed hearing about their lives here in this Village of Claverton. Turns out we can walk the canal back to Bath in the morning in less than an hour. That will be great as we don’t have to walk any main roads with traffic nor will we have to Uber if we don’t want to.

We saw the Cotswold Way finish marker in front of a grand church on the Bath Square and we went over the 100 miles walked mark by just walking around Bath today.

Tomorrow we arranged to have high tea at the Post House, Jane Austen style. We’ll visit some museums in Bath and take in more of the town which only had a small taste of today.

What an over joying and satisfied feeling to have ticked off so many boxes on this trip. If we had tried to plan a more perfect mother’s and daughter’s date today than this it could have taken years, but it happened rather serendipitously.Read more