Monday, May 18 – Our day started with a marvelous breakfast buffet at the Tortworth Court. We then packed the car and took a walk around the manor grounds and discovered another arboretum just beyond the manor grounds.
Our next stop was Castle Combe, considered by many to be the most charming village in the Cotswolds. There is no castle in Castle Combe – with was destroyed centuries ago – but the village remains. While it was cute, it is visited by droves of tourists and that cuts into the charm for me.
We found a five-mile loop hike starting in the town center and followed a slow-moving stream out of town. We crossed over an old Roman bridge and went through a “kissing gate” – so called, because there is cozy room for two inside the swinging mechanism.
Once through the gate, we walked along the edge of a wooded hillside where a herd of a hundred or more goats were busy taking care of the underbrush. Many kids had recently been born and there was all kinds of fun being had by crowds of little goats chasing each other and butting heads (and other body parts).
At the far end of the loop, we passed by a hamlet of just a few houses and worked our way up a hill where we entered another pasture; this time filled with sheep.
We climbed a steep rise and found a bench with a beautiful view of the small valley we had just left. After a brief rest, we headed back to town through a forest that had just been heavily logged. We found a sign indicating that a disease had attacked most of the trees and they were being cleared to prevent spread.
We arrived back in town for a late lunch (thankfully after the tourist busses had departed) in the ancient White Hart Inn.
Our lodgings tonight are at the Windylands, a private residence with a handful guest rooms outside of Old Sodbury.
