Guided Walk - (1) - Bourton-on-the-Water

We didn't go this way, but I love the sign

Although I've called this the first guided walk, there was a previous one which I didn't join in with. I was told it was extremely muddy and the weather looked awful. I made a good choice because I went out into Bourton for a while just to look around and was driven back to the hotel by the horrid drizzle. However, this time the afternoon was sunny, if rather cold and windy. I took my hat and gloves, and yes it was muddy, but we all survived without slipping over, which was rather a miracle!

One of the worst parts to cross. Three ladies formed a chain to help me across

We left the hotel and walked up towards Birdland where we continued to follow the River Windrush past the bottom of the Jurassic area and out along a lane. Shortly after this, two of our group turned back as we were about to hit the fields and mud. The paths were indeed slippery and the mud was squashy with pools of water. I had mud over the top of my walking shoes and I could feel the mud sucking at them. There was a lot of clinging to a fence and as we each tried to navigate around the worst of the mud. This was also part of our route back, and somehow it didn't seem as bad, probably because we knew what to expect.

Former gravel pits, now lakes

Stream by gardens

We followed a route around the old gravel pits which are now lakes with lots of water birds. We ended coming back through part of the walk I did independently on a free afternoon through Greystones Nature Reserve. When I was there before the smell was overpowering, but today it wasn't as bad. The cows can milk themselves as there is automatic milking machine, so when they are ready they just go in. Although it's not hands on and rather sterile, how many farmers milk their cows by hand these days? The advantage of milking this way is that they don't have to wait for the farmer to bring them in twice a day, often leaving cows heavy with milk and no way to get rid of it. Here they can be milked when they need. I believe the cows are chipped, so the machine knows if a cow has been milked earlier. Opposite the milking shed is a self-service hut where there is a fridge. You can pay for a bottle and fill it with organic milk. You can also to choose milkshakes and buy cheese. There is even a coffee machine. It is down the hill from here where the replica of the Iron Age house is.

Greystones Farm

Buy your own organic milk and cheese

The walk was just over four miles, and I must say it was good to escape the mud on some tarmacked paths on the way back! We walked through the graveyard at St Lawrence Church. Bourton was once one of the most thriving areas for wool production in the world. When wool merchants died their tombs were decorated with bales of wool (see below). The more and bigger the bales, the more successful they were.

The symbol above is an insurance policy. If you paid in for one of these badges to be placed on your house, it meant that if you had a fire the fire brigade would come and put it out. If you didn't have one, then you had to get on with it yourself! If you were luckily enough to live next door to someone who did have a badge or a fire started there, then you would have your fire put out as they didn't want it spreading to their property. Amazingly that this company is still operating today.

I'd just like to say that Bourton-on-the-Water is a bustling place. On the weekends, tourists flood in on coaches and it can get very busy. During the week, it is quieter, but we haven't hit the holiday season yet. There are lots of places to eat and lots of gift shops and a convenient Budgens supermarket. The river runs through the town and is crossed by one of many little bridges. Once a week the HF Holidays house where I was staying put on a boat race, which the locals enjoy too. Handmade boats of all styles are launched from one of the bridges to race to another bridge further down. More about that in another post. This is the house in Bourton.

And a few photos of the house.