The breakfast experience in the hotel was a little chaotic but the food was excellent. I chose waffles with fruit compote which arrived with a spoonful of clotted cream on top. Clotted cream, or any other cream, is not what I enjoy (or expect) at breakfast, I removed it and put it to the side of the plate.

We had booked to visit the Peto Gardens, Iford Manor at mid day which left us with an hour to fill. We headed towards Brass Knocker Basin with a view to walking to Dundas Aqueduct however we ended up by another stretch of the canal  at the locks in Bradford on Avon. Apart from seeing a WWII pill box this stretch of the canal had nothing much of interest so we continued to the Peto Gardens, where before setting off to explore the garden, we had lunch on the terrace outside the newly built tea shop and restaurant. We enjoyed our lunch, in my case a cheese and red onion sandwich (lunch of the week), in glorious sunshine. The owner was there chatting to one or two people and filming a short promotional video.

The garden is spectacular and whilst from my previous visit my lasting memory was the garden structures this time the flowers were equally as prominent. I was glad to have the guidebook because I lost the one from my previous visit before I had chance to read it. It explains the history, garden structures and statues. Before leaving the garden, we revisited the café for a drink, choosing a shady seat to cool off.

We still had time on our hands and were more successful in finding Brass Knocker Basin where we parked and walked along the canal to Dundas Aqueduct. I wished we could have spent more time there as there was lots to see.

Mr C had sourced an Italian Restaurant, Piazza Fontana, for our evening meal. When we arrived we found that it had a lovely outside seating area with a Mediterranean feel to it. I chose sea bass with shrimps, lemon butter and rocket followed by affogato. The food was delicious, the service was excellent and the menu extensive so we decided to book a table for the following night, our last in Cirencester.

We then walked the short distance to The Fleece for a nightcap before retiring for the evening.