Bourton-On-The-Water

 Today we drove to Bourton-On-The-Water and spent the day in what one website called the “Venice of the Cotswolds”. That’s a bit of hyperbola but the Windrush river right through the village center is quite charming.

Almost immediately on our arrival we learned one fascinating tidbit of English culture. Instead of having “handicapped” parking they have “disabled” parking. And they don’t tell you what they are at eye level.Rather the eye level sign says free 90 minute parking. The “disabled” is in faded yellow partially eroded paint on the road in front of the space which you absolutely can read if you’re not concentrating on trying to park your car and if you know it’s there and are watching for it. The English are very protective of their disabled folks and within ten minutes of parking you can get a ticket. Fortunately the 70£ ticket is cut in half if you pay within 2 weeks. All very educational. At least we weren’t the only clueless ones. Two cars near us also had tickets and Victoria saved a third car with a warning as it was pulling in. A few blocks away we found a place we could park for much longer than 10 minutes and much less than 35£.

We had lunch at a nearly 200 year old tea room.

Next to it was a yarn shop where Victoria spent less than 2 hours and did her bit to support small independent craft shops.

We walked along the Windrush for a while.

And then visited the model village:

“ The Model Village is a one-ninth scale replica of the heart of the beautiful Cotswold village of Bourton-on-the-Water. The Model Village is a one-ninth scale replica of the heart of the beautiful Cotswold village of Bourton-on-the-Water, containing all the buildings from the Old Water Mill (now the Car Museum) down to the Old New Inn and the ford.

The village was created by a previous landlord of the Old New Inn, taking local craftsmen five years to build, and it was officially opened on the Coronation Day of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the late Queen Mother) in 1937. The village is such an accurate replica of Bourton-on-the-Water that is has a flowing river with water wheel, two singing churches and even a model village within the Model Village.”

It was created to draw tourists to the town and continues to fulfill that function today!

After a bit more walking we stopped at a Cornish bakery and picked up a couple of pasties to bring back for dinner. Before collapsing for the day we did have time to explore Chipping Campden a little more.

And so, goodnight.