stow on the wold

Escaping the hustle and bustle of the big smoke is always a joy, you can practically feel the shackles of London life breaking free as soon as you pull out of Paddington and head into the golden light of the Cotswolds. Last weekend we did just that and boarded a packed train on Friday night for a weekend in the English countryside.

I found myself back in the driving seat on Saturday having been in retirement for almost two years (!) so it was good to have a bit more freedom and allow mum some time off from playing taxi man. Saturday was a beautiful autumn day so we headed to Cheltenham for a little morning shop and lunch. The American has never been to Cheltenham and I’ve been telling him how lovely it is for years now so we thought this would be a good first stop. We didn’t have much to get but I did buy our advent calendar at Mayther, a great card and stationery shop. Lunch was at a favourite, Huffins, a sweet little bakery café with its origins firmly in the Cotswolds. Having had our fill of Welsh rarebit we set off into the heart of the Cotswolds.

My little car needed some encouragement when it came to reaching the top of the hills and entering Stow on the Wold but we made it! We arrived late in the afternoon and were welcomed by that glorious golden light that looks even better reflecting off the honey coloured stone houses synonymous with the area. My heart does flips whenever I’m here, I can never get over how beautiful it is and how high up you feel; like on top of the world! We snooped around and although most of the shops were closing (I actually find this so refreshing having been used to a city which never sleeps) we had a great time peering through the windows of antique shops, estate agents and crumbling pubs.

As many of you know, living in the Cotswolds is pretty high up on my list so I got very excited thinking about the possibility of actually doing this; perhaps I’ll go freelance and The American can crunch numbers in London during the week and come back to the honey village at weekends? Or perhaps we’ll both just pack it all in and run a farm and a florist shop. Either way, we’ll try and make it a reality. 

Sunday was a relaxed affair with a clay pigeon shooting lesson in the morning and then a roast back at home. The lesson was a belated birthday present for him and he is now hankering after another go having discovered he's incredibly good... looks like I'll be booking more lessons in the near future.

It's always a bitter sweet goodbye on the platform at Pershore - we love to get back to the smoke but always wish the weekends could be another day longer and we could spend more time at home. I'm sure I'm not the only one who hankers after a three day weekend every time?!



L.