The sun put its hat on so I ventured out on a longer local walk. The walk didn’t turn out as I had planned, I missed a pathway that I was looking for. The greenery has grown much more than usual this year changing the appearance of familiar pathways. In some places the grass was taller than me!
My walk destination was Dothill Nature Reserve with the intention to explore new pathways. I skirted through Apley Woods as I made my way there.
<
6 Comments CherryPie on Jul 8th 2021
What a difference a year makes. This time last year this walk, especially in the woods was difficult to navigate due to the large numbers of people walking. Today I hardly saw another soul.
This walk saw me half way to the completion of my #walk1000miles challenge. Only another 500 to go before the end of 2021.
2 Comments CherryPie on Jul 7th 2021
When I set off on my afternoon walk I wasn’t sure where it would take me. I followed my instincts as paths diverted along the way.
My first destination was Leegomery pool, the new ducklings declined to show an appearance. Where would I walk next?
I chose to walk along Hurley Brook which led to one of the Hadley Locks. Where would I walk next?
I chose to walk along the Silkin Way to the Hadley Park Windmill and back to the Hadley Lock junction where I opted for the long route home via Hadley Cemetery and a return to Leegomery Pools.
2 Comments CherryPie on Jul 7th 2021
For our last breakfast, I opted for the Danish Pastry selection, naughty but nice. We cleared the room and checked out then Mr C retrieved the car and loaded it with our bags before we set off to the nearby Chedworth Roman Villa. I have a childhood memory of visiting the villa on a school trip. I loved seeing the mosaics which are covered by buildings to protect them. There is a little museum that contains some interesting artefacts including a rare fragment of fish-shaped glass originating from what is now the Ukraine and estimated to be around 1800 years old.
Next we visited Upper and Lower Slaughter where we enjoyed a lovely walk. Sadly all the eating places were fully booked so we set off in the direction of Broadway. On the way we stopped off at The Cotswold Food Store and Café which is in the middle of nowhere with fine views over Gloucestershire. The weather was glorious so we opted to sit outside. This turned out to be a bit of a mistake as it was extremely windy and blowing things around the table. Instead of stopping off at Broadway, we elected to go straight home. We picked up food for an evening meal and a box of Godiva chocolates which we later enjoyed on the patio with a bottle of my birthday bubbly.
4 Comments CherryPie on Jul 4th 2021
After breakfast we set off on a walking tour around Cirencester that was based on the recommendations in the information pack the hotel had provided us with. Our first port of call was the Church of St John the Baptist which is situated in the market square. We walked around the burial ground before entering the church building, the oldest part of which dates back to 1115.
There is much of interest to see including a Lego model of how the Abbey of St Mary may have looked. Whilst we were there we were treated to a lovely organ recital. We walked into the grounds behind the church where the original monastery would have stood. Parts of it are marked out with stones in the grass to give an impression of how big it would have been.
We then walked through town towards Cecily Hill and The Great Park. We briefly entered the park before returning to the town to sort out our car parking ticket which was due to expire.
This gave us the opportunity to drive to the nearby earthwork remains of an immense Roman Amphitheatre on the outskirts of Cirencester. Back in Cirencester, we had lunch in the Cafe Mosaic which is situated in the Wool Market. We then continued on our walking tour, adding some additional points of interest mentioned in a walking book that I had bought from the church shop during our morning visit. We walked through the Abbey Park to find the remains of the Roman Town Wall and Corinium Gate where there is only a plaque to commemorate what was once the north-east gate of Roman Corinium (Cirencester).
By now it was time for an afternoon treat so we made our way back to the Great Park where we encountered the Duchess of Bathurst next to her Beano in the Park which is a lovely teashop in a Retro caravan. I chose mint choc chip ice cream and apple juice. The picnic area was full so we retired to a nearby bench to enjoy our tasty delights. We took a scenic route out of the park and made our way to the Corinium Museum which has a collection of wonderful Roman mosaics.
We returned to our hotel to chill out before dining in Piazza Fontana where the experience was as good as our previous visit. Then one final nightcap in The Fleece before it was time to pack our bags for our journey home.
8 Comments CherryPie on Jul 3rd 2021
