Stow-on-the-Wold Cotswolds

It’s perfect weather today and will be clear skies and in the mid 60’s. We’ve been quite lucky so far in England with only a few intermittent rains.

We learned that the environment changes so does the stone used for building. You can easily tell the change from the colors of the stones. Even the Cotswold walls and roofs are made of the local limestone and the roofs tiles hang by pegs! The area we’ve been traveling through is beautiful and green with lots of hills and valleys dotted with sheep. Another observation is just how friendly and “ever-so-polite” everyone has been in England.

Today we started with a very scenic Cotswold drive and visited an English village where we toured the Stanway Manor and Mill. It has only changed owners once. It was owned by an abbey for 800 years and for the last 500 years and still today it is owned by the Tracy family and their descendants. The Earl of Wemyss lives there now. Not much has changed, and the interior could be described as very shabby and messy. Some furniture, tapestries, and portraits have been there for centuries, but the couches were literally falling apart! Strange story…his wife believes in drilling a hole in the head to give it more space. Still happening now! Oh, an ancestor was accused of heresy. But he had been dead for 2 years, so they dug him up and burned him. So many stories could be shared! We had a spectacular fountain show when they turned on a gravity- set fountain that is the tallest in Britain. We also toured the watermill and saw wheat turned to flour.

We actually had a lesson in cricket at Stanway House. I can’t say that I understood the game, but it was a jolly good time!

Legend says that Tolkien visited St Edward’s Church in this village, and the mystical doorway there looks like a portal that could transport you to another realm.

Rebecca, Wendy and I had lunch at Huffkin’s Tearoom and then we joined our guide for a country walk to the Upper and Lower Slaughter. To quote him, we walked past thatched cottages, sheep, a mill creek and through fields and kissing gates.

We gathered for dinner at The Kings Arms (dating from1600s) where we also listened to local folk musicians…very enjoyable evening.Read more