Today we joined a tour group that went to the Cotswolds, Avebury, Lacock, and Stonehenge. The tour left early, before Toni, at Chestnut house usually started breakfast, but Toni got up early to to fix us a special breakfast and called the tour company and had them pick us up at the Chestnut House (B&B), instead of us having to walk into Bath at the meeting spot.
Driving around in a 16 passenger bus through the winding narrow roads of the Cotswolds is a little exciting, but at least we were not driving. MadMax Tours did a pretty good job for this tour. We had lunch in Lacock at George’s Inn, the best Fish and Chips so far!!!
The Stonehenge exhibit had been overhauled for 2012 Olympic visitors, and was very well organized and a specular exhibition of the character of the time period which they believe Stonehenge was built. |
Cotswolds
Our first stop was the Cotwolds area. The Cotswolds is a picturesque area of England, that looks like a seen out of the fairy tale. Narrow streets and quint market places and historic churches.
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Towne Square |
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Manor House
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Manor House
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St. Andrews Church
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A very tiny little door
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Church Cemetery
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Church Cemetery
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Walter Dunsville Catacomb in St. Andrews Church
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Avebury
Avebury is a little town in the Cotswolds area that is not as well know for it's ancient stone circles, like Stonehenge. It is still very impressive and quaint at the same time. We were given time to walk around the towne, look at the stone circles and visit the Avebury Manor and its beautiful gardens. |
Every towne has its own church
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Outer Circle |
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Inner Circle |
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Ditch outside outer circle
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The English used to levy a tax based on the square footage of your windows, so many folks just closed off their windows permanently.
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New Thatched Roof
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Thatched Roof Repair.
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Thatched Rook Eves
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Building a Thatched Roof |
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House seen in a movie
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House seen in a movie
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Lacock
A very quaint village where stopped to have lunch (Best Fish & Chips ever), and visit to a "bent-wood" barn, built with NO nails! |
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Best Fish & Chip!!!
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Stonehenge
The Stonehenge exhibit was overhauled in preparation for the increase visitor traffic during the 2012 London Olympics. They opened a spectacular new visitor center with many exhibits and a small museum. Of course they also opened a very expansive gift shop. On needed improvement was the installation of trams to shuttle visitors back and forth to the actual Stonehenge area. I am sure that this substantially reduced wear and tear on the roads and actual sight. |
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Looks like they used a mortise tenon joints to connect the top stones.
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Winter View of Stonehenge
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Heel Stone
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Sample Rock Size
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The Cherhill White Horse
This area had several designs and artwork made from exposing the limestone under the grass. This is known as the Cherhill White Horse. |
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