One of the Pretty Towns We Have Visited in the Cotswolds (#14)

Part of our reason for staying so long in the Cotswolds was so we could visit a bunch of the little villages in this region.

Our little village of Chipping Campden is at the very top of the Cotswolds...we had planned to drive a lot to many of the other neighboring villages.  Driving has been a bit more challenging than we anticipated.  We last drove in the UK 26 years ago.  We had a small rental car with 3 teenage boys in the back seat, the car had a manual transmission which we had to shift with our left hand...it was all pretty hairy, but we managed to drive in and out of London, and all the way up north to the Lack Country and back.   (and yes, we did manage to smack the passenger side mirror MANY MANY times as we passed mailboxes and other car mirrors! This time we made sure we picked up the car outside London,  and made sure we had and automatic transmission.  We were given a lovely Kia Sorrento that still has that "new car" smell.  Times have changed and we no longer smack the side mirror...instead we hear a "beep-beep-beep" every time we get too close to the edge of the road...it has become the soundtrack of our outings!!  Gary has gotten really good at the whole "drive on the left side/wrong side of the road thing, we have so far managed to stay in the correct lane at all times.  He is still nervous driving, but I will vouch for the fact that each time he gets behind the wheel he does better - today we drove to the neighboring town of Broadway and he did SO well!! Just look at this park job at the grocery store...all within the lines (and he actually backed in!!). It's actually a bigger car than we need and we actually considered driving 1 hr. back to the Hertz place to exchanging it, but I think things are going well enough now that we will keep it.

Anyway, Broadway is quite a bit larger than our village, but it is LOVELY.  All the towns seem to call their main streets by the name of "High Street"...and this one did not disappoint.  There are huge flowering horse chestnut trees, in full bloom, running down both the center and the sides of High Street.

The street is lined with cute shops; toy stores, country clothing stores, candy shops, art galleries, dog accessory shops (so many of those in England!), and more pubs and tea rooms than you can imagine.  We popped into a deli/market that had the most beautiful produce.

We needed to break some pound notes because the parking lot only took coins, so we popped into a store called The Man Cave which had all sort of car-themed decor items.  I found a basket of little trinkets and I picked 2.  Went up to the cashier and the man told me they were actually 5 for £1.  I only needed 2 so he told me to just take them - no charge.  I said I'd go grab 3 more and he told me his till wasn't open so with a big smile he said I could just have them for free!  

We then popped next door for tea (still trying to break our £20 note).  We sat next to an older couple, and the gentleman kept asking the woman if she was OK...is your tea OK?  Can you get to the toilet OK? Do you feel OK to walk?  Finally he went to the restroom...and she looked at us and said "just because I'm 95 my son thinks I can't do anything on my own!!  He's making me crazy!"  First off, I could not believe she was 95 - she was sassy and so spunky!  She told us all about her granddaughters upcoming wedding and complained if the son kept taking her out to tea and cakes, she would never fit in her dress for the wedding!  She was from Yorkshire so we had a nice chaat about how much we enjoyed that area.  Then she got going on how she couldn't believe her son was a "retired pensioner".  The son finally returned and she toddled off with him, looking over her shoulder and rolling her eyes at us!  She was priceless.

We wandered up and down the High Street of Broadway.  There is definitely a "cottage chic" design aesthetic, and so many shops to help you decorate your Cotswold cottage perfectly.  Gary got a little bored with this type of store, but I thought they were fun (a girl can dream, can't she?!)

Heading off to a different village, we took a quick detour to see the Broadway Tower up on a hill.

War memorial with red poppy wreath.

Hmmmm....never saw a sign pointing me to a nuclear bunker before

And here is the bunker!

The views from the top of this hill were breathtaking....

I asked about this basket...It is a "signal flare tower" and has been used only 3 times; the Queen's Jubilee, King Charles's coronation, and the anniversary of VE Day.

This was the restaurant and gift shop at the Broadway Tower

I had the most perfect lemon tart.  They had 8-9 various cakes from which to choose, and of course 4 of them were gluten free, so you know who was happy!  If we go to a Starbucks at home, the only glutenfree option for Gary is a plastic wrapped rice crispy treat...this is just so great for him to be able to have lovely choices wherever we go here!  He opted for a slice of ginger/lemon/zucchini layer cake with icing topped with pistachio nuts - I forgot to take a photo (I was too busy enjoying my own lemon tart!)...and there were only a few crumbs left at the end!

Back in the car for a lovely drive back to Chipping Campden.  I just don't think there a prettier area anywhere for a drive!

These roads are pretty narrow, and when an on coming car approaches, there is an unwritten dance of who finds a spot to pull over so the other can can pass.  The passing car always gives a little wave, that we have taken to calling "the Cotswold wave"!

So I leave you all here with a little Cotswold wave! 👋