Just five miles from the vibrant market town of Cirencester is the small village of Rendcomb where we spend 10 days house-sitting for Charles and Fiona’s cats, Lizzie, Bertie and Jasper.
The village of Rendcomb is stretched out along a sloping hillside overlooking the peaceful River Churn and as we drive up the hill Rendcomb College is hard to miss. Set in Rendcomb Park, the historic Italianate house was built in 1865 by architect Philip Hardwick for Sir Francis Goldsmith and it’s an impressive building, that’s now home to daily and boarding children.
The village has a post office that just serves as a tuck shop for the school children and a community pub that opens once a fortnight in the village hall.
We don’t have the use of a car here so we spend our time going out for walks, John goes out cycling but I’m sure he wasn’t prepared for the number of hills there are in the area and with Cardiff only an hour’s drive away we get to see Chay a couple more times when he comes for dinner.
From the main road, we get the bus into the picturesque lively market town of Cirencester which has a rich and well-preserved historical heritage. It’s an interesting place to walk around with a daily market in the square, a Victorian outside pool and lots of boutique shops.
Heading from the town centre we walk to the main gates of Cirencester park which is huge, with long tarmac paths crossing over in the middle, wooded trails, monuments, and with trees aplenty this greenspace is open to the public daily.
Our time in Rendcomb has come to an end and as much as we have enjoyed being here it feels quite isolated, surrounded by trees and hedges, at the end of a No through road, it’s certainly the place to be if you want peace.
It’s early afternoon when we leave Rendcomb and not wanting to drive very far we head for Bourton on the Water. Known as “The Venice of the Cotswolds” we quickly realise it’s an extremely popular village as there are people and coaches everywhere. With 18th-century stone bridges crossing the River Windrush that flows through the centre of this charming village there’s a variety of shops, tearooms and art galleries to wander around.
We spend the night at the Rugby club ground just a few minutes walk from the village, and apart from the football team training and a few people using the social club, it’s a quiet night here.
The next morning we decide to stop off in the small town of Chipping Norton. Fondly known as ‘Chippy’ by the locals it’s the highest town in Oxfordshire. Situated on the western slopes of a hillside that was once the site of a Norman castle, it’s a town full of history with lots of plaques on the old buildings naming the people who once lived there. More recently the area has been in the news about the opening of Diddly Squat Farm and a shop that features in the tv series ‘Clarksons Farm’.
We could stay in Chipping Norton but with the Campsite charging extortionate prices and the designated place in the town just a sloping car park we head off in search of somewhere quiet.
Just off the A43 near Brackley, we find the Stratton Arms Pub In Turweston which allow motorhomes to park up for the night on their grounds. So as John navigates us down the slope and onto the grass where we park up alongside a couple of other vans next to the river that runs past the pub gardens. Apart from the pub, there isn’t anything else in Turweston so we decide to walk to the nearby village of Brackley, which is famous for its schools notably Winchester House on the High Street, which occupies the former seat of the Earls of Ellesmere, and Magdalen College School that’s built on the foundations of the medieval hospital, it’s a pleasant place for a walk. Later that evening back at the Stratton Arms we go in for a drink and receive a warm welcome from the locals who tell us tales of the surrounding area.
The next morning it’s a chilly start to the day and it’s time for us to leave this part of the country and head East towards Norfolk to our next house sit.
Coordinates for Sites in the UK
Rugby club, Bourton-on-the-Water
N 51° 52′ 54
W 1° 45′ 1
Stratton Arms Pub, Turwesten
N 52° 2′ 11
W 1° 7′ 32
Hi both, good to see you are still out and about and exploring the uk.
Thank you. Thought we would use the time to visit family and see a few places here. We continue to follow your trips with interest