Almost full circle

It has been seven weeks since I left home and our travels have now brought us almost back to our starting point. We have stayed for two nights in Witney on the edge of the Cotswolds. This gave us  the chance to sight by car instead of one foot.

We had a very nice lunch in the sweet little Cotswold village of Bourton-on-the-water, along with thousands of other tourists.

It really is on the water. A shallow, man altered stream called Windrush River runs politely through the middle of town, traversed by five low stone bridges.

The water is only six incbes deep. Ducks were swimming and childen were playing in it.

There were a lot of people but we didn't realize how many there were until we hit the traffic jams at the next two villages enroute to Sezincote house and garden. The villages caused the traffic to bottleneck when it slowed down at the villages snd it backed up and crawled, stopping and starting,  for a couple of miles into the villages on both sides. The Cotswolds are beautiful but I would not want to live here. There are way too many people doing what we were doing.

Sezincote was hard to find due to lack of signage compared to other attractions, and I think the people who own it are a bit eccentric. The woman at the gate was shocked that we hadn't seen their signs.  This India inspired house was built in the 1790s, but there has been a house here called  Sezincote since the Doomsday Book. It has since belonged to a few different families. The current owners are responsible for its renovation and redecoration in the second half of the 20th century. We did a house tour guided by an old woman (much older than me!) She took us through the entrance and staircase, two majestic bedrooms, a drawing room and dining room. No photographs were allowed, unfortunately. The house consists of the main building with a wing of accommodation rooms on the other side and an orangery on this side here they have a tea room.

Even the head gardener's cottage is huge snd ornate. It is attached to the farm buildings, still in use. There is a clock in the tower over the stables that still chimes every quarter hour.

We had a good wander through the lovely gardens. Indian inspired statues on bridges, beside ponds and in grottos dug into the hillside.

Afternoon tea view from the orangery.

Looking through the window of the "Tent room" which is on the end of the accommodation wing. Apparently the original owner liked to sleep here. It only has one door leading out onto the garden.