Hello again!
Last time you heard from me we were in Bath and heading to Cirencester! Miriam’s friend Jess was very kind to host us in her flat for a couple of nights so that we could explore the Cotswolds. She even made us home cooked meals and tea which was great!
Cotswolds
On Tuesday morning we drove up to Stratford-upon-Avon. On the way we went through many quaint little Cotswolds towns such as Bourton-on-the-Water, Stow-on-the-Wold, Moreton-in-Marsh and many others! It’s such a cool region of England. So many little villages which, in New Zealand would be pretty quiet with one or two shops, but in England they’re busy villages with so much going on! We really enjoyed the old buildings and the fields in between. We squeezed through many small roads and dodged many other cars!
Once in Stratford, we walked out into the main street and realised it was extremely busy! We just can’t believe how many people have been in all the destinations we’ve been in so far. We had tickets for Shakespeare’s Birthplace but a bit of time to kill before we needed to be there, so our first stop was Shakespeare’s New Place.
Shakespeare’s New Place is an archeological dig which took place in 2010-2015 on the site which they knew Shakespeare owned the largest home in Stratford. Unfortunately, the home was destroyed at some stage in history by a man who was angry that he had to pay taxes so destroyed one of his many homes to avoid them!
The dig allowed them to find the outline of the house and once they were done, they covered it over and you can imagine the home with the outlines on the brickwork and garden they’ve built in its place. Next door is a museum full of loads of things they found while doing their dig. It’s assumed that Shakespeare will have written some of his later plays in this house.
It’s pretty cool to be able to see a site that he lived, but it’s a shame that it was destroyed! Knowing that the building on one side and the church on the other were definitely there during that time makes it feel quite strange that you get a similar view to him.
Next stop was back at Shakespeare’s birthplace. I have been to this house before, but it was cool to revisit and see the kind of place that someone like him was born. It doesn’t seem like anything fancy now, but his father was a wealthy businessman and their house was actually quite nice for the time. It had been extended on over the years and originally would have just been 2 rooms.
The gardens around these buildings are always very well kept. The trusts that look after them do a great job of this!
After the birthplace we had a walk around Stratford. We wandered down the Avon river and wound up at the Holy Trinity Church. Unfortunately it’s only open about an hour each day so we had missed it, but this is where Shakespeare is buried.
Along the river you can also see the Royal Shakespeare Theatre where they show productions of Shakespeare plays all year round.
Stratford-upon-Avon is a pretty cool place and there is plenty to do for a day out!
Once we had walked around and seen enough, we headed to Anne Hathaway’s cottage. Anne Hathaway was Shakespeare’s wife and the direct line from her family still survives today! You get to have a walk around her family farm, see the gardens, and see how they might have lived. The house contains items from the time that Anne would have lived there as a young girl until her mid twenties when she married Shakespeare.
Next we headed back to Cirencester. We decided to take the back roads home and check out more villages! These villages were tiny and had even more narrow roads than before! We couldn’t believe that they still had loads of people out and about though! We passed through Welford-on-Avon, Long Marston, Mickleton, Chipping Campden, Broadway, Buckland, Laverton, Winchcombe, and many more! Have a look at these on a map and you’ll see that they’re tiny and seemingly in the middle of nowhere!
The day ended with a nice walk around Cirencester to see the Roman Amphitheatre. Cirencester was actually as large as London in Roman times! There is plenty of evidence today that it was a large city which is very cool to see. It was a nice end to a great day in the Cotswolds and we were feeling ready to head north to Lake District!
Lake District
In the morning we started driving towards Lake District. We had quite a lot of driving ahead of us so we took a fairly direct route, but that still took us through quite a few little towns!
The only stop we made along the way was to Hill Top which was the home of Beatrix Potter, writer and illustrator of the Peter Rabbit books.
She lived in the house in the early 1900s before handing it over the the National Trust to look after. Most of the house has been left how it was when she lived in it which was pretty cool! The gardens around the house are amazing. You can see how she had so much inspiration to write about vegetable-loving garden animals!
The next stop on our trip was to Grasmere where the original Grasmere Gingerbread shop is. It was such a busy little village and I think we paid more for parking than we did for gingerbread, but that seems to be a theme of England. Every town has its carpark, and every carpark has its own pay and display system. I don’t think I’ve seen the same app twice. Some take card, some don’t. It’s luck of the draw, really.
Anyway, the gingerbread was amazing! We walked around the church grounds and found a nice little spot to eat it. Just behind the shop you can smell the kitchen and it is incredible! You’d be hungry in minutes if you spent too long there.
The rest of the day was filled with driving to our accommodation in Windermere. We were staying at the Youth Hostel at the end of the lake, and the kitchen had a very nice view of the lake. The views around this area reminded me quite a bit of the South Island, but our mountains down there are much higher!
The next morning we got up to do a walk in the Lakes District. The one we chose promised good views for photographers and it didn’t disappoint! It was the Blea Tarn in Little Langdale. The road was the most narrow we have driven on yet but thankfully we didn’t meet anyone coming the opposite direction.
The walk took us past Blea Tarn with views of the mountains in the background. We walked all the way around it and then headed up a hill on the other side. The view from the top looked right over the farm below to the mountains over the other side. We sat and ate some food before turning back to the car. It was so nice to get out into nature and go for a walk and take photos!
Our final stop before heading to Scotland was Keswick. This was another busy town with a slightly cheaper carpark and a market going on. We enjoyed a walk through the market and even managed to get some steak pies for lunch!
After wandering around for an hour, we jumped back in the car and headed for Edinburgh! That’s where this one finishes, and the next one will be in a few days! We are in Scotland for the next week so I might have to split up the blog otherwise it’ll be a long one!
Bye for now! 👋🏻
