Gym's Ramblings

Cotswolds Day 2

Buckland Manor is situated in a AONB. It is the largest AONB in Britain. An "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty" is like a National Park and there are restrictions on development and land use within the AONB to protect its distinct nature. On June 25th, we set out on a journey to discover the distinct nature of the Cotswolds on our own. We would hike up over the spine of the uplifted limestone that gives the AONB its unique geography and we would explore a very good example of a Cotswolds village made out of that special limestone as we strolled High Street in Broadway. All the while our steps and the distance we travelled were being recorded by the products of Apple Inc.

Our route would take us out the back of Buckland Manor and up the to the summit of the spine of the Cotswolds, where the path intersected the Cotswolds Way. The Cotswolds Way is a footpath along the summit of the uplifted limestone that runs 100 miles along the length of the AONB. We would not attempt to cover the entire trail on this day but Mrs. Gym would have given it a go, if that was the plan. Instead, I thought we might descend into the next valley and check out Broadway, Worchestershire, England. I had two reasons for wanting to see the place, it is supposed to be a good example of an entire town built out of Cotswold stone and it must also be somewhere near where a famous brown sauce was invented. Although we did not see a worchestershire sauce factory on our visit, we did see lots of cool houses built out of Cotswold stone.

We did not go home to Buckland Manor by the same path that we traveled to Broadway. Gym wanted to check out a garden on the edge of the AONB but it would turn out that the garden was either no longer open or we were there at the wrong time of year. So, we returned to the hotel along the border of the AONB beside a road that had no footpath. That bit of bushwhacking on what turned out to be a 6-mile hike was just enough to require that Gym needed two Gin and tonics on the patio to recover from the day's travails. Mrs. Gym was no worse for wear.

After a short nap we got ready for dinner and enjoyed our second dinner in the dining room. I will just say that it is expensive but worth every penny. The service is first class and the food is outstanding.

St. Michael's Church is beside Buckland Manor. In front of it is the kitchen garden for the hotel.

For many years the Buckland village church, St Michael's, housed a sixteenth-century copy of The Acts and Monuments (popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs). However, the book was reportedly stolen in January 2012.^[41]

From the spine of the limestone escarpment between Buckland and
Broadway, one can see Broadway Tower which is across the valley
and on the next hill. it is the goal of the next day's hike.