Witin ten miles of home we got lost -- for the first of four times -- on our 110 mile journey. Eyeing the map but taking the wrong left turn, we found amazing precipitous ups and down in between tiny crossroads villages of the Chiltern Hills. Regaining a major road and passing around Oxford, we thought we'd find a spot of lunch in the Cotswolds. We found our way to Bourton-on-the-Water (not far from Stowe-on-the-Wold), strolled the lanes, found discount woolens, and had a nice pub lunch.
Then on to getting lost several more times in Cheltenham and Gloucester (cathedral stones first laid in about 1070; complete in about 1480 -- DEINITELY a place we'll have to visit at length), and down the west bank of the River Severn.
The river has a huge broad valley and widens out to the sea as it divides England from Wales. Just north of Blakeney is a little town with a lovely church yard from which you can look out over the valley.Sunday Michael drove us to Yat Rock, a huge overlook above the Wye River, which forms part of the border with Wales. We drove down the steep teeny lane to Symonds Yat East, where you can eat drink, hike, bike, and take kayaks and canoes out on the river.
We hiked down-river, crossed the suspension bridge, and first placed our feet on Welsh soil a Symonds Yat West. We will return and perfect the Welsh pronunciation of multiple unlikely consonants. Following a nap and light supper, we motored across the Severn Bridge and home.Oh yes, what about the bore. . .? What is the Severn Bore? "When the boar comes, the stream does not swell by degrees, as at other times, but rolls in with a head...foaming and roaring as though it were enraged by the opposition which it encounter" - Thomas Harrel 1824
No comments:
Post a Comment