We decided to visit Bourton-on-the-Water, the scarily pretty Cotswold village that sits astride the River Windrush. I say river, it's not much more than a stream, but the good elders of Bourton have seen fit to build little bridges over the river and to keep the whole place picturesque. In retrospect, maybe a Bank Holiday Monday wasn't the best day to visit.
I knew it would be busy, but I didn't anticipate that half of Birmingham would be there (judging by the accents), nor the coachloads of foreign tourists. That was my error, I suppose.
The run over from Shipton was easy enough, apart from the entitled twat in a Range Rover (what else round here?) who decided he'd pull across and block a mini-roundabout when his exit wasn't clear, Nice move, holding up traffic in two directions. I'm still getting used to the 20mph speed limit in all the villages you pass through in England, but I'm not complaining because I think it's actually a good idea, but I still have to check myself as I hit that limit sign. It seems that the majority of drivers are OK with the very low limit because compliance seems quite high. It also helps that the rented car we have has a little audible alarm that goes off every time I go over said limit. I've a few weeks to get used to it all, I guess.
The car park at Bourton, or at least the one on Rissington Road, was a nightmare, with people waiting for others to vacate slots, but blocking up others trying to enter or leave. It was GBP4.50 for two hours, which is a bit steep, but there was no shortage of takers.
The village itself was heaving with visitors, which made walking beside the river a wee bit hazardous. You'd only get wet shoes if you were knocked in, but who wants wet shoes?
We went into the famous Bourton Model Village, a walk around model layout of the actual village, originally constructed in 1936 and used the same materials for the model houses that the real buildings were made of. It's not very big, and the pathways are small, but we were sharing our visit with so many other people that it made things a little difficult. It didn't help that people were trying to get photos of each other in among the buildings, and the people milling around. With so many people jammed in there, I gave that pleasure a miss.
After the Model Village, which frankly was a bit of a let down, and rather shabbily exited you out to the front door of a bar in the New Inn next door, it was time to brave the crowds along the river. When I say crowds, I do mean crowds, and there were hoards of dogs in the mix as well, and yet more people trying for photographs of each other in amongst the throng. It was all a bit much for poor Charlie, who had had enough and forced us back to the car. Ah, still, we did manage a visit.
The run home uneventful, and we were able to see many of the re-introduced birds of prey, the Red Kites, wheeling around above the farmland. They really are fabulous birds, and so successful after breeding pairs from Wales and Spain were set up in the Chiltern Hills in 1990. Goodness knows how many of them are flying now, but they've spread a long way from the Chilterns in the intervening 35 years. Read about their success here.
Tomorrow is a big day, up "in the smoke". Stay tuned for more exciting adventures.