We took a guided tour of the Cotswolds, a picturesque area of England that is one of the top Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in the world. The tour met us at the Morten-in-Marsh train station and took us to morning coffee at Secret Cottage, then around parts of the northeastern Cotswolds, back to Secret Cottage for lunch, more touring, and finally tea at Secret Cottage.
After another harrowing drive from Swindon, we arrived at Morten-in-Marsh with almost an hour to spare. While Tom and Sam slept in our car, Candy and took a short walk around the town.
The English seem to be able to have a manicured garden (yard) that also looks natural. It’s an art.
Below are some views of byways and towns within the Cotswolds. The Secret Cottage tour took us to places where the large motor coaches do not go.
Claire, our tour guide, had lived in the US for five years with her husband, who was in the Royal Navy. She is also the etiquette lady in a talking portrait in the Harry Potter ride at Universal Studios.
It was interesting to see how the owners of this house had trained their pair trees to grow along the walls.
In this town, there were no pubs allowed by the lord of the manor, so this enterprising person brewed beer that the farm workers would buy on their way home from work.
We finished the day by driving to the town of Hasely, near Warwick castle and walked around to see a church and manor house. The nearby pub was booked for the night, so we drove into the town of Warwick to have fish and chips at the Chip Shed. They were very, very good.
Our rooms were the old coach house and stables. The proprietor was very nice. We recommend this bed and breakfast establishment.
