Today’s post is 1275 words, 27 photos, a 6 minute read. Enjoy!

Hi everyone,

Welcome back to a regular episode of Traveling With Tom. Last week, I brought you the 500th edition of this blog, thanks for the comments, likes, and continued encouragement. If you missed that post, click here.

This week I’m back in the Cotswolds and our seven day, 50 mile walk in the countryside with stopovers in quaint villages along the way. Today we begin the walk in Moreton-in-Marsh and travel to Stow-on-the-Wold, a distance of 6.5 miles (10.5 km). If you miss the first post in this series, click here.

Onward to Stow-on-the-Wold

It was a bright, sunny morning when we exited the Redsdale Arms in Moreton-in-Marsh. We’d scouted out the trail head the day before so we knew where we were going. Just before entering the trail, I snapped the photo below of the ivy covered home with the open window and vase of fresh flowers on display.

The well-marked trail took us to the village of Longborough, population 471. A distance of about two miles.

In this quiet village, we first stopped at the St. James Church on the edge of town. Not only did they offer spiritual services, walkers delight in their recent addition, a nicely appointed outdoor wash room (toilet). We’d walked a couple of miles and were ready to use the facilities.

The churchyard also contained the memorial to those from the community that gave their lives during World War I. You’ll see more as we traverse the Cotswolds.

I thought this was a funny name for a house. In rural areas, house names, especially old houses, are common and often historical going back to the original builder.

As we were walking through Longborough looking for the trail, we met a man pushing a wheelbarrow that contained sacks of garden soil. He stopped and asked us if he could help. After pointing us in the right direction, he mentioned that the Longborough Village Shop served tea, coffee, and cakes. It was on our route. This is a community owned and run enterprise. With his recommendation, we stopped for drinks and a snack. We had a delightful waiter, one of the town citizens fulfilling his duty to the shop.

This war memorial was along the trail, I think of a once small community. 

The trail took us through the woods, sheep and cow pastures, and sometimes through the middle of a farm field.

In this cow pasture, I was delighted to see this herd of Guernsey heifers. We had Guernsey cows on the farm I was raised on in North Dakota. They are known for their gentle disposition and high butterfat milk. These young heifers occasionally looked up at us standing watching them eat grass, probably wondering what these humans were up to. Behind them is the beautiful rolling hills of the Cotswolds. No wonder they were so content.

We saw a lot of canola (rapeseed) fields in full bloom. It seemed to do quite well in the rocky, rough ground. In England, most rapeseed is planted in the late fall thus the early growth in the spring. We were walking in the Cotswold in late April and early May. It’s harvested in mid-summer.

We passed through the small village of Donnington, the home of the Donnington Brewery.  It was past lunchtime when we reached the village of Broadwell, population 355. The only place to eat in the area is the Fox Inn. We grabbed a picnic table with an umbrella out back and placed our order of chicken and ham pies. For me it was a half pint of Donnington Gold and for the ladies it was rose lemonade, refreshing drinks after miles of walking. After our meal, we doddled knowing that we only had another mile to walk to Stow.

On the wall of the Fox Inn was the town’s war memorial.

Stow-on-the-Wold

It was mid-afternoon when we walked into the village of Stow-on-the-Wold, population about 2000. Stow is market town and is the highest town in the Cotswolds at 800 feet. It got its name from the combination of Old English words, Stow meaning a holy or religious meeting place and Wold referring to the wooded, hilly countryside.

As we walked into town on High Street, the main street, we noticed that some of the shops were closed. From a sign on one of those shops, we learned that they were closed because the water was shut off. Apparently, a pipe burst that disrupted water supplies in the area. It lasted for 18 hours.

Macs Adventures had us lodged at The Bell, a pub with rooms on the edge of town. They were a little down hill so still had a supply of water when we checked in. After a short siesta and a shower for me, my Traveler Partner got a small trickle of cold water for her shower. They were out of water for showers. While she was a little grumpy about not getting a shower, she took it in stride because we were told it “should” be back on in the morning. It was but the water was cold. Ok, there were a few curse words spoken while she washed her hair and scrubbed the sweat off in the chilly water.

Stow-on-the-Wold is known for St. Edward’s Church, Edward being the patron saint of Stow. Anyway, the church entrance is thought to have inspired J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Doors of Durin” in the Lord of the Rings. The two old yew trees flank the main entrance to the church. We weren’t the only one’s there, we had to wait while a family took turns having their photo taken at the door. We took our turn, well my Traveling Partner and The Eldest had their photos taken. I skipped it because I didn’t have a clue of the significance of this part of popular culture. 

I was amazed that St. Edwards Church has been in existence for over 1000 years. My Traveling Partner pointed out that they have a special service for those who have dementia. I don’t know why she was looking at me when she shared that information. I thought, ok when the time comes!

As we walked through the village in the late afternoon, the streets were empty due to the water issue. All the restaurants were closed, the co-op grocery was open with people stopping in to buy something for their dinner. We went back to The Bell where we were served a delicious meal and another half pint for me.

During our walkabout, I chuckled at the name of this business, Fatface, a men’s and women’s clothing store. It’s a UK chain with about 20 stores spread around the country. And I don’t think they catered to the oversized crowd. I moved on.

At dinner, The Eldest pulled out her notebook and said that each night at dinner we would collectively review the day according to the five senses; what we saw, heard, smelled, touched, and tasted. She’s a follower of Gretchen Rubin, a writer and podcaster, whose recent book “Life in Five Senses” inspired this evening ritual. After a couple of days, we added one more category, what we learned. Here’s a little run down of our version of the five senses for the day:

See – cows, sheep, deer, canola, pastures, rolling hills, old tree trunks, stonewalls, headstones, beautiful homes and gardens

Hear – birds, pigeons, cars, sheep, tractor, church bell, helicopter

Smell – wisteria, cow and sheep dung

Touch – wool on the fence, wood styles, hiking poles, church door, yew bark at St. Edwards church

Taste – beer, rose lemonade, strawberry and raspberry jam, bugs, coffee, avocado toast

After dinner at The Bell, we turned in early to rest up for the walk to our the next destination Bourton-on-the-Water, a distance of 4.5 miles. Tune in next week for the next stage of our walk.

Until then, happy travels!

Tom

PS: Click here for a link to the post about my book “Farm Boy.” Contact me if you are interested in purchasing a copy. Thanks to all have plunked down your hard earned dollars and read the book. TM