Category: Travel
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Avebury Stone Circle
On our penultimate day in Little Coxwell, we took a trip to Avebury, the site of an ancient stone circle and surrounding henge/ditch, the largest in Britain. The site is one large circle with two smaller circles inside. It was created for unknown purposes about 5,000 years ago. The current village of Avebury now intrudes…
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Signs that I’m not an idiot?
I’ve been amused and interested by some plaques I’ve seen in various places during the last few weeks, and wanted to share them. Part of my amusement stems from my frequent confusion regarding personages of England over the centuries, and how they are related. Chris patiently will explain the history of some of these people…
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The Bluebells of Badbury Hill
Near where we are staying is a place called Badbury Hill, which I was told has a famous display of bluebells, occurring about now. Today, I was certainly convinced! A few days ago, I was overwhelmed by the yellow masses of rapeseed, and now I guess we are on to blue. What’s next?
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Thames Path: Watching a barge cross a lock
As we explore the area around Little Coxwell, we were drawn to walk a bit more of the Thames Path. We started in Tadpole, strategically leaving the car in the parking lot of a nice pub for the finish. The loop walk is 7 miles, and the mid-point is a lock that serves mostly personal…
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Visiting Bath
One of the places that Chris had not visited in her home country is Bath, in Somerset, and so we took a day trip there to check it out. Most of Bath’s buildings are made from the local, golden-coloured, Bath Stone. The dominant architectural style is Georgian, which evolved from the Palladian revival style that…
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Walking the Thames Path
The Thames Path is a long distance walking trail, following England’s best known river for 185.2miles (298 km) as it meanders from its source in the Cotswolds through several rural counties and on into the heart of London. On its way the Trail passes peaceful water meadows rich in wildlife, historic towns and cities and…
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Blenheim Palace and the Churchills
This impressive place was built at the early 1700’s by John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough, following his military successes in the War of Spanish Succession. The palace is notable for many historically significant events and people, including being the birthplace and ancestral home of Sir Winston Churchill, who was born prematurely in the…
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Uffington White Horse – the oldest chalk horse in England
Today, we took a lovely 7 3/4 mile loop walk to see the Uffington White Horse, a 3,000 year old chalk horse carved into a hillside. Part of the route was on the Ridgeway walk, which has been used for at least 5,000 years, the oldest track in the UK. The Uffington Horse is a…
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Visiting Burford in the Cotswolds
Today was beautiful! The clear blue sky out our window this morning and forecast of warmth enticed us to go to Burford, a picturesque town on the southern edge of the Cotswolds. For those who have never visited, the Cotswolds is an area of almost impossibly picturesque and quaint villages, united by being built from…
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Nice animals in the fields!
The paths we’ve been walking through frequently cross farmers’ fields, where animals are grazing or feeding. All the animals are gentle and curious (and seem to be able to smell an apple in a backpack!) The cows and mares often have young ones with them…very cute. And we’ve been told that the two sheep are…