2303 To Stratford-on-Avon

Malmesbury Abbey entrance


Stow-on-the-Wold stocks and all


Hired a car today: a Toyota Aygo 4 cylinder. It was a blue sky day today - the second we've had in the UK.
Headed out of Bath towards Bristol because the car hire worker told us to go to Saltford to fill up. Couldn't find a petrol station so ended up driving through lots more built up area with the usual problem of people parked on both sides of the road, or one side of a one-horse road, and drivers having to nick into little spaces to let cars through. This is done with such calm with drivers taking turns to move from either end. It is like some sort of dance ritual. Anyway we eventually found a fill-up station where we bought a map. Good thinking 99.
We headed north for the Cotswolds with the plan being to stay in the Youth Hostel in Stratford-on-Avon for the night. On the way we called in to see Malmesbury Abbey which is a living church with a ruin on each end. It began as a 7th century monastery but then became a Norman church. The Abbey had been established by the mid 15th century but then a series of storms destroyed the towers and spires. The doorway is particularly interesting with biblical stone carvings done in the time of the Normans. A window at the western end of the church shows Elmer the Flying Monk, who in 1010 strapped on wings and jumped from the tower in a leap of faith. He broke both legs but became a local hero. "Whatever lights your candle, I suppose".
Our next detour was into Cirencester but we missed the car park and it was too difficult to get back so we decided to go on. There are two famous Roman floor mosaics in this town - next time!!
To get our Roman fix for the day, we detoured quite a long way off the road to see the Roman Villa at Chedworth. This is currently being re-housed in a more protective manner by the National Trust so we didn't get to see a huge mosaic which stretched across a complete wing of the villa. It's about time some attention was paid to this site. It was a huge Villa obviously owned by a wealthy Roman farmer. Unfortunately once the Romans left England, sites like this were destroyed or totally neglected by local farmers. It is thought that a considerable section of this villa is under a farm field. Their use of the latrine was well described so just in case you didn't know Romans wiped their bums with a fluffy bit of wool on a stick, dipping it in a flowing water stream that ran through the toilet area, and then dipped it in a salt store in between uses. Fascinating, eh?
We called in at Stow-on-the-Wold and had a look around. When I was there last in 1970 it really appealed to me. I can still see the charm, but since then I've seen so many English villages, it did not have the same wow effect this time. The stocks are still in the village square but the green area looks to have been reduced to allow for car parking. The YHA is still there but we drove on to Stratford.
Once in Stratford, we followed the signs to the YHA, looking forward to staying in the 200 yr old mansion. When we got there, the 130 beds were all taken. Plan B was to go back closer to town and find a B&B which we did: The Sunnydale on Shipston Road (the A3400) which was close to the City centre. We were too late to get tickets for a play and, to be honest, too tired to go anyway. The B&B had one of those mostly plastic ensuites the size of a wardrobe that have been added to rooms. I had to wonder what would have happened if an obese person had turned up: would the B&B owner have to turn them away?? obese-ism???