In October,
partner-who-loves-tea and I had a week’s break in Southern and Midland
England. The first few days were spent
visiting family in Exeter and we stayed at the Fisherman’s Cot on the River
Exe. The morning we left the river was
swollen from the heavy rains that had fallen overnight.
P-w-l-t drove us up
to the Cotswolds and we stopped at Bourton-on-the-Water.
We had a walk and then visited Birdland.
At times it was hard
to know whether we were more interested in the birds or they were more
interested in us! This Northern
Helmeted Curassow was happy to say hello.
This Occipital Blue
Pie was a bit more shy.
I especially enjoyed
seeing the birds that are on the British list but which I rarely get the chance
to photograph at such close quarters like the Redshank, Stone Curlew and a pair
of Snowy Owls.
By contrast the
Masked Plover comes from the other side of the world being an Australian
species.
Isn’t this wonderful
plumage on the Queen of Bavaria Conure?
I’ll show some more
birds another day.
We spent that night
at Shipton-under-Wychwood in the Cotswolds.
We had hoped to stay at the Shaven Crown which my Great, great
grandfather and grandmother once ran but there was no room at the inn when we
tried to book.
So we ended up at the
nearby Wychwood Inn and an excellent choice it proved to be. Comfortable, friendly and first class food!
This is the former
post office in Shipton.
And this is
what it looked like around 1900 when it was run by my grandmother’s godmother,
Nel Dee and her sister Adeline.
There will be more about our October break another day....
I don't know the Cotswolds at all but it does look a mellow area.
ReplyDeletei thought you knew virtually everywhere, Adrian. if you haven't explored the Cotswolds you must do so bu preferably outside the tourist season.
DeleteIt’s so much fun to travel, i am glad you got to go. Those birds are amazing!
ReplyDeleteHow awesome! I love it that your great-greats ran an inn! I think I'd like to stay at No-Water-In-My-Bourbon. Or perhaps Butter-Upon-Toast. *wink*
ReplyDeleteA lovely post to accompany my morning coffee and muesli today - thank you! It would have been very special for you to stay at the inn that was once run by your great-great grandparents, but I am glad the other inn was such a good place to stay.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun break! I love your bird photos..so beautiful and ones (except for the owls) that I've never heard of. So much beauty and history in your country and to have an Inn that was run by your Grandparents would be so cool to visit! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had a good time despite there being no room at the inn. HOw sad the local people must have been when the post office closed. For strangers, it's always nice to spot a shop and go in, thereby having a chance to interact with local people. For the local people themselves, it is a huge plus to be able to pop down to the shop rather than driving for miles to go to a big Tesco.
ReplyDelete