The American Fountain is a favourite focal point in the town’s marketplace, and its creation brought together an unlikely mixture of people. It was intended as a tribute to Queen Victoria, whose Golden Jubilee was being celebrated, to Shakespeare, and to the relationship between the USA and England. The fountain is heavily decorated with quotations and sculptural details which enforce these messages.

• More information about the memorial fountain can be found here.

After breakfast we set off to Worcester to visit the Cathedral. The Three Choirs Festival was taking place so parts of the Cathedral were obscured by the temporary seating and stage area. We were however, treated to a wonderful practice session of Elgar’s Enigma Variations. The BBC were setting up for recording the performance for later in the day.

We walked back through the town to purchase some items we had seen on our walk to the Cathedral; Mr C purchased some items for the kitchen, mum picked bought a lovely Tilley hat that is just her style but sadly the Lilac Rohan jacket that I have had my eye on for a while (waiting for the sale) was completely sold out.

We decided to head towards Ledbury  to explore it further and have lunch on the way. As we travelled I spotted a cafe and farm shop sign where we decided to stop. The Fold turned out to be a vegetarian café with an interesting and varied menu. Our timing was off, we arrived just after a large party of 10 people which meant we had to wait a while for our lunch to arrive. The waitress came with apologies from the chef for our wait. When it arrived the food was delicious, I had opted for apple and cinnamon cake, one of my favourites which is not often on the menu.

On arrival at Ledbury, we found a more suitable place to park the car than on the previous day’s visit. The town was much quieter and I was able to enjoy unobstructed views of the Market House. Mr C spotted a lovely cobbled street with great photo opportunities. Walking along the cobbled passageway was like stepping back in time and it led us to the delightful Church of St Michael and All Angels. As we left the church the sky had become heavy and dark, threatening thunder. We beat a hasty retreat to the car and as we made our way in the general direction of the hotel the roads were awash with floodwater after a torrential downpour.

Ironically the sun came out as we arrived back at the hotel so Mr C and I headed into Malvern to visit a second hand bookshop before freshening up for dinner and more ‘Fine Dining’ in the Cotford Hotel.

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.