Cotswolds Visit (Part 2) April 2009.

This is "Part 2" of my Cotswolds visit, which features a few villages & places around the Cotswolds. Featured are : Lower Slaughter, Broadway, Snowshill, Hailes Abbey(National Trust), The garden of my "Whiteacres" Guest house in Broadway, Chipping Campden & Coughton Court (National Trust Property). This visit was over the weekend of April 3rd-5th 2009.

Bourton-On The-Water & Birdland : Visit April 2009 (Part1)

This Video Is of Bourton-On The-Water village , including "Birdland" a Zoo of different varieties of exotic and Interesting Birds. This was part of my stay in the Cotswolds in early April 2009.

I Stayed at a B&B in "Broadway Village" That village will be featured in Part 2.

THE COTSWOLDS - April 2009

My visit to The Cotswolds was April 3rd-5th 2009, where I met my Sister & her Husband , who were staying In "Broadway Village" at the Caravan site there. I stayed just along the road from there at a B&B called "Whiteacres", which was very nice and with a good breakfast too.

We managed to visit a few places , including "Bourton-On the- Water", known as the "Venice" of The Cotswolds, due to the stream running through the village and the small bridges over it.

Very popular place for tourists there. The village also has a place called "Birdland", with many varieties of Birds (Photos above). Other places I went, were "Snowshill", which has "Snowshill Manor" (National Trust) and "Lower Slaughter", with the Old Mill shop, which is always worth a visit. Another nice village with a stream running through and much quieter than Bourton.

Chipping Campden we had a good meal, at "The Eight Bells" Pub one evening. Not an easy village to park, but well worth a stroll around Chipping Campden. With staying in "Broadway" , it was obviously a place we spent time looking round too, with its wide street (Broad-way) and the Interesting shops it has. I also visited "Hailes Abbey", near Winchcombe, as I had been there once before and felt like going again. This is also a "National Trust" property(photo above)

So with the weather being superb that weekend, I was very lucky to be able to take so many Photos on this visit. Some of which are shown above.

LACOCK VILLAGE (Wiltshire)

Lacock Village is owned by the National Trust and was also the setting for the TV Series "Cranford". A very scenic village and well worth visiting to see the very old buildings there.

The Abbey too is very Interesting and that was used for filming scenes in a "Harry Potter" movie. The Abbey also has a window that was the subject of the very first negative taken using a Camera! Taken by Fox-Talbot. Visitors are also allowed to take a Photo of that very window.....and is the only subject allowed for photography inside the Abbey.

The village also has a very nice Tea shop (Photo above) called the "Hunting Lodge Tea Rooms" where you can get some very nice lunches and cakes. It also has a tea garden too.

The village bakery is also worth visiting.

I was lucky with the weather on my visit on 11th October 2008, as it was warm & Sunny, which helps when taking nice photos. I hope to go there again oneday.

CASTLE COOMBE Village (Wiltshire)

My Visit to the village of "Castle Coombe", was on Saturday 11th October 2008.

A very pretty village in Wiltshire, not far from Bath, on the edge of the Cotswolds.

It has been called the "Prettiest Village In England" and there are Indeed some very pretty cottages and views here. It helped having a bright sunny day on my visit here too.

Of course taking good photos is not easy when these villages are a magnet for tourists.

So having a photo with no cars and people on, are almost Impossible to achieve.

But I think I've managed to take a few scenes that show the Character of this nice village.

Although it has a couple of Pubs there, one thing missing seemed to be a Tea shop.

Unless the locals are trying not to encourage more visitors.

THE LAKE DISTRICT

My visit to the Lake District, was August 3rd-5th 2007 with my friend Dana.

We stayed In Ambleside, which is a good place as a base for touring that area. The only downside is the lack of parking!. Most appears to be by permit parking only.

So any future visits i'll make sure I find a hotel with it's own private parking!! As it can be a real problem otherwise. The weather is another factor on visiting the Lakes too, as it is well known for its "Wet" weather up there, being very mountainous of course. But as long as you are prepared well and take weather proof clothing and an umbrella......then it's still very enjoyable.

The only day it did'nt rain was our final day, when we visited "Levens Hall", which is well worth seeing, with it's Topiary Gardens. The Hall itself is also worth visiting and was one of the best I had visited. There are exhibits Inside that used to belong to the Duke of Wellington and Napoleon too. But the Gardens are superb and really well looked after. Every angle is worth a photo Itself.

Another place we visited, was "Dove Cottage", the former home of William Wordworth.

We also saw the Headstones in the graveyard at nearby Grasmere.

Lack of time prevented further visits elsewhere and the continual rain made driving conditions less than enjoyable at times, but Ambleside was Interesting and also Bowness, where we took a Lake Cruise, before having a meal at a local resturant. Plenty of Interesting shops to visit and there is also the "Beatrix Potter" visitor Centre too. I wish we'd had time to visit "Hill Top Farm", where Beatrix Potter lived, but maybe on a future visit. There is so much to see in the Lake District, that a weekend visit is not long enough.

The Photos above show some of the scenery we saw though, including "The Langdales", a very scenic area.

DEVON: Holiday In July 2007

I have been going to Devon on holiday on and off, since 1970 now. My Sister used to live In Torquay, so naturally It became a place we went each year. But even now she no longer lives there, I still love going to visit my favourite places. Dartmoor is one of them, which is so changeable In weather and you never know how It will be when you go there.

I love to visit Widecombe-on the-Moor, the main village on Dartmoor. Nice gift shops there and a couple of Pubs too. Also "Hound Tor" is another location I visit, which was the Inspiration behind Conan Doyles "Hound of the Baskervilles" story, for Sherlock Holmes the fictional detective. The Moors are full of Myths & Legends and it's such a wonderful landscape to view, whatever the weather. Ideal for Photography.

I also visit Dartmouth a lot and around "Bayards Cove", the frontage being used by TV companies sometimes for filming programmes such as "The Onedin Line" in the 1970's.

The River Dart is a lovely place to take a River Cruise on a nice day, on one of the many pleasure cruisers there. They also run trips to Totnes on those as well.

One place I always visit is "Berry Pomeroy Castle", reputed to be Britains most haunted castle!

I don't dispute that at all, having taken a photo there in 1973, which appears to show a young girl in a white dress in the corner of the picture!! This was taken in the days before Photos could be manipulated with Digital technology. It was a basic camera too. So i go there each time I visit the area, just In case I might just capture something else on a photo, or even see the Ghosts that are supposed to haunt the rest of that castle!.

Cockington Village is another attraction to be visited. The Thatched cottages and tea rooms, serving Cream teas (Photo above). I have to sample those of course!!

Torquay is often my base for a Holiday In the Torbay area, though other places would be most suitable too. Babbacombe is a nice area to stay and less noisy in the summer months.

The Theatre there often does good shows and the downs are popular to walk along.

Another Idea is to take the Steam train from Paignton to Kingswear station..then the ferry to Dartmouth for a day trip. Then you can complete the journey be taking the River cruise to Totnes, then the bus back to Paignton. Known as the "Round Robin" trip.

Leaving your car at Paignton station, saves worries about parking at Dartmouth, which is not easy in Summer. So I look forward to another holiday in that area sometime.