The Cotswolds is a beautiful region in Southern England, well-known for its vast hillsides ('wolds’), sleepy villages, open skies, vast grasslands and for being so ‘unspoiled & untouched' by modern developments.
And for those who came in late, Stratford-upon-Avon was the birthplace (and deathbed) of the greatest playwright of the English language...William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616). He is also referred to as the 'Bard of Avon', or more simply 'the Bard'.
We had been to both these places before, but jumped at the prospect of visiting a second time when some dear friends came calling from Germany. In response to their question - 'Aur England mein dekhne ke liye kya hai bey!!' - we planned a day's road trip from Bracknell to Stratford-upon-Avon to Cotswolds and back. The original plan was to start early morning and catch the better part of the day in Shakespeare Country but a late night in a London Pub the previous night ensured that we left Bracknell only by 11:30 AM.
Cruising on the M40 motorway with 'Doorie...Doorie...', 'Hum Kis Gali Jaa Rahen Hein' and other wonderful soul stirring music with the warm afternoon sun on us was as good as it can get on a early Spring morning in England. To give our "foren" friends an initial taste of things to come, we took an early detour from the motorway and entered the beautiful Cotswold region on our way to Stratford-upon-Avon. We made our way through beautiful old villages, scenic landscapes & hairpin bends, lazily grazing sheeps and wide expanse of grasslands with bright yellow flowers (similar to our "sarson da khet" in good old DDLJ ishtyle). We stopped on one of these beautiful fields laden with bright yellow flowers and clicked some pictures as well.
Arriving at Stratford-upon-Avon was a nostalgic experience. The Bard was on his pedestal as usual, surveying all that stood in his path (I like saying this again and again, I don't know for what reasons). The beautiful town and the bright sun seemed to work like magic and managed to get people out in hordes to the Avon riverside. We had a small picnic by the riverside and took some photographs.
We skipped another visit to the main attraction of this beautiful town, i.e. Shakespeare's Ancestral Home, since we had already seen it on our first trip here. So, we decided to roam the High Street while our friends went ahead to explore this magnificient place. We spent our time lazily enjoying the fun-fare all around, doing some retail therapy and enjoying some good ice-cream. There were Shapespeare look-alikes posing in the High Street, people were posing for photgraphs with them while children stood on lookimg amazed & amused at some statues making subtle movements while dressed in Shakespearean costumes and colors.
After spending close to 4 hours in this wonderful town, we started for the Cotswolds. With my wife acting as the expert navigator, we reached our first halt in the beautiful Cotswolds, i.e. the quaint old village of Chipping Campden, at around 5 PM. At this late hour on a bright Saturday, the village had almost retired for the day. The majority of shops on the High Street were closed and we took a stroll on the High Street, peering inside shops through their windows. One or two shops were still open for business at that late hour and those were filled with people. The High Street had stone-walled houses on one side, while cars were parked outside in a straight line, horses trotted past in a single line acknowledging motorists for letting them have the right of way, etc. etc. It was just beautiful and as my wife put it very succintly, you have to imagine the High Street without the cars and other modern paraphernalia to get a mental image of how this village would have been 200 years back. It is worth appreciating the beauty of this place if you do this.
As we drove out of this beautiful village, the roads took us to a higher ground from where we had a panoramic view of the village and other neighboring plains. We stopped here for some time and stepped out of the car to marvel at this scenic beauty. After some more photo sessions we then proceeded towards the village of Bourton-on-the-Water.
We reached the village of Bourton-on-the-Water passing through many beautiful villages and wonderful countryside on the way. Bourton-on-the-Water is one of the prettiest villages of England and is also affectionately known as "Venice of the Cotswolds" with a subtle reference to the numerous small road and ornamental arched footbridges over the river Windrush that runs through the middle of the village, thereby adding a serene touch to the beautiful setting.
The river is shallow and the water is so clear that you can see the sands on the river bed. Ducks and other water birds were in abundance and the silence of the village was interrupted from time to time by these creatures frolicking in the water.
The village still retains its old-world charm, the houses are built of Cotswold limestone and there are many fine houses, old cottages and nice pubs. We found a nice pub on the river side and spent a good one hour before taking a stroll along the river while watching kids playing along the river and birds swimming against the water.
There is a local attraction, the "Model Village", which is 1:10 replica of the village. Unfortunately we could not go to this attraction b'coz it was getting dark and we had to get back to Bracknell in time for dinner.
Overall, a very nice outing in the Cotswolds, we are waiting to go and explore the other areas of this beautiful region of England.
