road trip: England (Part 1) - Heart of England

Hi Folks! After that comical yet rather scary (cos it's true) last post about the Virgin Mary tree stump in Limerick...We are back to our camping trip in Emgland..

So, first up in our England Camping holiday: The Heart of England (The Cotswolds and Bath)

After getting off the ferry in Wales (and driving a long long way) we set up camp in a very small (and remarkeably empty) campsite near Northleach (southern end of Cotswolds for those with a map (or see map below)). A simple campsite with our very own smokery on site with delicious smoked trout and chicken...yum.. This is proper camping after all..

There we stayed put for 5 days while exploring the countryside and the villages of Chipping Campden, Bourton on the Water, Stow on the Wold, Upper and Lower Slaughter and Bibury and sampling some of the cream teas.
So cute, so English and so like the BBC dramas everyone is familiar with... It was the England I really wanted to see (but wasn't sure if really existed) and it was the England we actually saw with our very own eyes.
We did this great little walk from Bourton on the Water, through Upper and Lower Slaughter via bits the 'Heart of England way', the 'Glouscestshire Way' and along those fantastic Public Footpaths. Doesn't it just make you want to go right now?
L-R The Walk: Bourton on the Water, Lower Slaughter, Ivan on Public Footpath, and walking through some yellow fields... We don't know what this yellow stuff is, but it sure is pretty.
This here is the old Market Hall in Chipping Campden , which is a lovely town with awesome tea and scones... the problem is you just can't seem to capture it properly in a photo.. damn! The market hall, built in 1627, is nice though.

While in that part of the world, another compulsory stop was Bath, and how rewarding! It is beyond beautiful... One of the highlights of the holiday for sure. The Roman Baths themselves were amazing, far better and bigger than anything I had imagined and the streetscapes, straight out of Jane Austen.... A stunning city, without a doubt.
L-R Check it out: The Circus, The River Avon, The Roman Baths and The Parade

Also, very nearby Bath is Monkton Combe, a small town where Ivan spend a few years when he was little... and though he was only 3-5 years old, he remembered little bits from his childhood and what family had told him about the place and eventually, by driving around the town very slowly and stopping often, we finally found the house he lived in, the primary school he attended and the local park.

An excellent success rate! considering the lack of actual information.
L-R: Snaps for the Williams Family: Ivan's old school in Monkton Combe (Schoolhouse and playing fields (ha ha ha)) and Priory Close, Ivan's actual house..!!

and hopefully this will work too...the map. Cos it's nice to see where these places are.

View England Part 1: Cotswolds in a larger map