Painswick Rococo Gardens is only a few miles from where I've been living for the last 9 years, but I'd never thought about visiting.  Thanks to the Cotswold Bloggers group, that has now changed.

As part of English Tourism Week 2018, Visit England organised a series of Instameets to showcase certain venues/parts of the country.  This seemed like an excellent opportunity to take lots of pictures, meet some new people, and generally fail at networking.
I will add a disclaimer now: we were provided with free entry to the gardens, and also tea and cake in the café afterwards.  Thanks also... continue reading »

As I drove over to Moreton-in-Marsh, the rain got heavier and heavier... to the point where I was almost considering turning round and going home.  I usually avoid cycling in the rain, and it was looking very much like my first sportive was going to be Type 2 Fun.

Luckily by the time I arrived the weather had upgraded to 'light drizzle'.  I optimistically stuffed my waterproof into a jersey pocket, where it stayed for at least 20 minutes before I caved in and put it on.

At the food stop I stuffed myself with flapjack and banana, refilled my water and... continue reading »

We took a week off at the start of July - with a relatively new dog we decided it would be best to not actually go away.  Staycation time!

Here's a brief write up of some of the stuff we got up to.

Having been to Rome and Pompeii/Herculaneum last summer I've built up a knowledge of Roman buildings.  It's a bit different for a villa in Britain though - more of a stately home than 'normal' life.

We arrived just in time to join a guided tour, with a very chatty and enthusiastic guide.  I got bitten several times by... continue reading »

Last Sunday's bike ride was an early one, due to other commitments later in the day.  An overcast and slightly humid morning for another Cotswolds ride - our third from the guidebook.

We started by the pub in Cold Aston and rode down the wonderfully named Bangup Lane.  I'm not used to starting a ride by going downhill, so that was a bit weird!

The bridleways are all 'named' ones, with diamonds on the OS map.  However the names on the map (Diamond Way, Macmillan Way) didn't seem to feature on signposts - and the Sabrina Way we saw signed isn't called... continue reading »

Another Sunday bike ride from the Cotswolds MTB book - Bredon Hill.  This route is sort of a figure of eight, going up and down twice.

We started in Kemerton and headed up.  Some amount of walking occurred, because hills suck (also I've not fixed my dodgy gears yet).  Having taken a slight wrong turning at a junction we eventually detoured back to the correct route, and our first descent - a rooty rocky path down to some fields and eventually the road.  I stopped at one point because my bike seemed very rattly to find that the rear wheel had... continue reading »

Last Sunday we once again loaded the car up with bikes for another ride in the early Autumn sunshine.  We went to the Cotswold Water Park to do the first route in this book.  I've done this ride (or something about 90% similar) before, but not for a couple of years.

Cycling around the water park is very different to riding in the Forest of Dean because it's almost entirely flat - Strava claims 10m of elevation over 18km...

The scenery is quite different too.  Less forest, more lakes (now there's a surprise!)

It's not difficult riding, although certain places were rather muddy! ... continue reading »

Earlier this month we popped over to Bourton-on-the-Water, to visit Birdland.

I've been before a few years ago, and I think I probably took all the same pictures again - but nevermind!

My favourite birds are the penguins.  They have King penguins and Humboldts, and we were there for the 3pm feeding session.

Other than penguins, there are obviously lots of other types of bird.  Flamingos, emu, pelicans (including one 'on the loose' that was attempting to terrorise people), chickens, owls, finches, other birds.  Lots of birds.

Oh, and parrots:

One thing that wasn't there when I last visited is "Jurassic Journey" trail - a... continue reading »