From Liverpool, we headed south to Oxfordshire, to the small village of Little Coxwell, population 171. Our friends Jim and Melissa have been living here for more than a year, moving from Palm Springs, California to see if living in the UK is something they want to do in their retirement. Melissa is English, raised in Essex, so she’s familiar with English life, but Jim has never lived outside the US. So far, so good, as one year has stretched to almost two now, with some emerging plans for the steps. Little Coxwell is just below the southern edge of the Cotswolds, a touristic and picturesque area of golden stone cottages and small villages, which we will visit, but by itself Little Coxwell is super-quaint and lovely. You will not be surprised that a cat is prominent in why we are here, as we are taking care of Frieda while Jim and Melissa head to Spain for a family visit.
From here, we plan to take some hikes and exploratory drives. Chris has not explored this area of the country so we’re planning visits to Bath, Blenheim Palace and some villages, as well as exploring the many footpaths. Yesterday, we took a 6-mile walk through green fields and low hills, trying to earn the nice dinner we had at the local restaurant/pub.
Life moves pretty slowly down here. If the below stone seen in the nearby town of Coleshill is accurate, it seems that population has grown pretty slowly. Over the past 914 years (from year 1086 to year 2000), the population of Coleshill grew by 17 people (from 165 people to 182 people) and added about 40 households. Greetings to all who come after us. 🙂
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