Ramble On (in the Countryside)

There's something very nice about being met at the airport.  And so it was being picked up by my Uncle Bill who's been meeting members of my family at the airport for well over 40 years.

A short stop at Windsor, with a hearty English breakfast (yes, all cholesterol-consciousness has been put on hold for this trip) before setting off to see my sister and her family in the Cotswolds.  And what a family!  We don't just have 3 little girls.  We have 2 dogs, Gruff and Tumble (more like Sloppy and Jumpy to me), and 4 cats who are very needy.  And very kneady.

The Market - yup, this makes it a town...

St James' Church

They live in a very picturesque town, (it's the size of a village but because it has a wool market, it is classified as a town), Chipping Campden.

Be still, my cholesterol-laden heart!

A short stroll through the town revealed a cheese shop!

It also sold beer!

And pork pies!

Fantastic!  

They said "Make yourself at home..."

So having stocked up with my health-food supplies, I was well-settled.

But it wasn't just all eating and drinking, I'll have you know.  There was quite a bit of walking to do.  Walking children to school for one.  This was only a short walk but involved listening to a lot of information.  Can little girls talk...and talk...and talk.

Don't know why he gets so upset.  It is a long face

Just after sunrise

But before that, there was walking the dogs.  That was a 6.00 am start and then a wonderful walk through the nearby fields as the sun came up.

This is rural England, so dogs had to be leashed when walking through any fields where sheep were grazing and one with horses...  Although seeing as the horses chased me out of the paddock, I reckon they were the ones that needed to be on the leash.  My sister then tells my brother-in-law got bitten by one...

Some parts of England never change.  Trying to buy a rail ticket remains as mysterious as ever.  The website was proving rather oblique, so I tried calling the number listed on the website.  After pushing a few buttons to get through to the right section, a recorded message told me to ring another number... Back to the website then.  Basically, it transpired that while I could order my ticket online, I had to go to another town to pick it up.  Email was clearly out of the question.

Ye olde black and white buildings

It's a Bard Life

So it was off to Stratford-upon-Avon to pick up a railway ticket.  I mean most people come here to see Shakespeare's house but for me, first stop was the railway station.  We did, obviously, stop at the aforementioned house.

There was also another cheese shop!

It's good advice

My sister also pointed out the spot where, previously, my eldest niece had fallen into the Avon and had to be rescued by a passer-by and then taken on to the Royal Shakespeare Company by a man with "a very commanding voice"  to warm up and recover.  Said man turned out to be none other than Patrick Stewart's son, Daniel.  Wow!  Rescued by the son of Captain Picard!

There was also a side trip to Sudeley Castle where the last wife of Henry VIII, Katherine Parr, is buried.  Her body was found in the 18th Century in near perfect condition, such was the skill of the embalmers of the day.  Unfortunately, people kept wanting to confirm this, so having lain for over 200 years in near perfect condition, her body completely distintegrated within 35 years of its discovery.  Interestingly, although you won't find this mentioned in the official histories, my phone's text auto-correction has her down as Katherine Parramatta.

Katherine Parramatta's final resting place 

On a more forward looking note, there was a trip to the local distillery.  They're making whisky but can't call it as such until it's been barreled for 3 years and 1 day and seeing that they only opened in September 2014, as you might imagine, 1 October 2017 will be a very big day!  In the meantime they're making gin to keep the cashflow going.  You can even volunteer to help with the bottling and you'll be thanked for your 3 hours work with a bottle of gin, which just happened to win "World's Best London Dry" gin this year.  Now I could be looking for work...

Barrel No. 1!

Mary and Janice - made in Scotland

It had been an eventful few days in The Cotswolds and it had been great to catch up again with family, so it was with some sadness that I said my goodbyes to everyone.  My youngest niece looked as though she was going to burst into tears at hearing the news I was leaving which really made me feel bad.

After a train trip back to London, it will be off to Marrakech tomorrow.