The Manor House Hotel at Moreton-in-Marsh built of the typical Cotswold stone and bathed in the last sun rays of the evening
In July this year the family visited the Cotswolds during a few days. Jennifer had always wanted to visit the area and see the villages, and this year of the pandemic offered an opportunity to do that and not stray away too far from our home. The images are not my typical landscape photography, as I didn’t have time to bring a tripod for all my photos and couldn’t destroy the family dinners at lovely Manor House hotels by disappearing with my camera and lenses. But I decided to publish the photos anyway on my website among other portfolio slide shows.
We started our journey by staying two nights at Whatley Manor, not far from Malmesbury in the south Cotswolds. Then we continued to the Lower Slaughter Manor in the central Cotswolds for another two days. Lower Slaughter is a small village that is quintessential Cotswolds with beautiful houses all erected by the Cotswolds stones. And the countryside walks are very attractive.
Finally we finished off with a night at Buckland Manor, the archetypal Manor House Hotel, which I loved since visits long time ago, before our family had a Manor House ourselves. And its location next to Sudeley Castle, Snowshill with its lavender fields and the lovely village of Broadway made it a suitable last stepping stone.
And as it was a family holiday you will get images of my family as well as of the villages and its churches.
Cotswold Slideshow: Click on the arrows to advance the images
Whatley Manor, where we stayed the first two nights and it rained a lot during the first day.
I took cover in the "summer house" of Whatley Manor, where I could smoke a cigar and have a glass of wine, while reading about the Cotswolds
River Avon passed by just towards the end of the grounds of the Manor
On Monday we visited Tetbury, which is a small market town. Highgrove, Prince Charles' estate, is situated just outside Tetbury. The building is Market House, erected in 1655 and supported by big Tuscan pillars
Chipping Steps was an old entrance to Tetbury. The cottages running down the side ere probably originally weavers' cottages
Malmesbury Abbey Church built in 1180. Around 1500 the spire, rising 130 metres tall, fell down and destroyed the Nave and Transept. What can be seen now is only a smaller part of the original construction, but it is still a very large and impressive church.
While the girls were pampered at the spa at Whatley Manor, Eric and I went exploring the twin hamlets of Eastleach Turville and Eastleach Martin. This is the Church of St Michael & St Martin. It was closed for services in the 1980s.
Connecting the two hamlets was this little clapper bridge (Keble's Bridge)
And in the other hamlet was the Church of St Andrews with a saddleback tower from the 14th century and a doorway from around 1130!
The next morning we visited the village of Bibury. This is one of the cottages in the lovely village, next to the Swan Hotel, where we sat outside in the garden having our lunch.
Beside the Swan Hotel run this little stream, actually the River Coln. In the background Arlington Row can be seen, the famous and much photographed row of cottages.
Arlington Row was originally built as monastic wool barns but converted into weavers' cottages in the 17th century.
Jennifer showing the size of the doorway into one of the cottages.
And a not entirely happy Eric posing in the same doorway
A footpath next to Arlington Row.
Bibury Church
In the afternoon we visited Burford, the first larger market town we saw in the Cotswolds.
The parish church of St John the Baptist at Burford, built in the 15th century
Another view of the imposing parish church erected with the help of money from the wool trade
We visited the hamlet of Little Barrington with another attractive row of cottages
Little Barrington's church of St Peter with a Norman doorway and a window at the east end (at the right in my image) dating from 1360-1390
The next two nights we stayed at Lower Slaughter which in my opinion is the most attractive of all the nice towns and villages in the Cotswolds. This is another row of houses built of the yellow Cotswold stones or bricks
The next day the morning sun announced that we would have a wonderful day. This is another typical house along River Eye at Lower Slaughter
We had a walk to the neighbouring village of Upper Slaughter along the fields and the river. Mikee and Jennifer
The Church at Upper Slaughter
My family taking a rest at the return from the walk
The watermill at Lower Salughter
Another little cottage with the watermill in the background
In the evening we went to another market town,Moreton-in-Marsh, and had dinner at the Manor House Hotel
The Market Hall of Moreton-in-Marsh, built in 1887
Nearby is the peculiar Curfew Tower, where a bell rang to warn of a fire. Image taken just before summer sunset. I left the family at the restaurant for 10 minutes to catch the Curfew Tower in late evening light
Along the main street of Moreton-in-Marsh
Another image of the Manor House Hotel
The next morning we visited Sudeley Castle, which is partially ruins, partially a still lived in Castle. Katherine Parr, 6th wife of Henry VIII, lived here after Henry VIII had passed away and she is buried in the church to the right
Eric and Mama share some secrets at Sudeley Castle
Jennnifer and Eric
And with Mikee joining them on the bench
Snowshill Village with another typical row of cottages
Snowshill Church with its golden colours
Outside Snowshill are some magnificent lavender fields.
The lavender fields in evening light
In the middle of the day we paid our first visit to the lavender fields. Eric sat watching a video, while Mikee and Jennnifer enjoyed being surrounded by the lavender. I then went back in the evening to catch the previously shown images
And among a field of Corn Marigold. Corn Marigold or Corn Daisy is highly valued as a nectar provider for insects
Lots of bees and butterflies helped with the pollination
Stanton Village with the Village Cross in front of Rose Cottage
The beautiful church in Stanton caught not only the eye of a photographer (me), but also an artist drawing the church in the evening light
Looking over his shoulder
And the church of St Michael and All Angels at Stanton from the west side
This is the imposing Gate House to Stanway House with St Peter's Church to the left
Our final village in the Cotswolds was Broadway. The main street is full of antique shops and art galleries
Another view of the main street in Broadway
Our close friend, the late John Keil, who with his wife Lise sailed with us in the Marquesas, supported the Museum at Broadway with his collection of art and antiquities.
After the new museum wing was inaugurated, we celebrated with a lunch at Lygon Arms. This time, ten years later, we just showed it to our children.
