Burford England

After arriving at Gatwick Airport, we rented a car and headed to Burford. Our son, Wendell had flown earlier into Heathrow and we picked him up along the way. Burford is a town on the River Windrush, in the Cotswold hill, in the West Oxfordshire district. Its name is derived from the old English word, Burh, meaning fortified town or hill town, and ford, the crossing of a river.

We rented a place through VRBO called 152 On The Hill. It has 5 rental units with a private entrance right in the middle of Burford. We rented “The Cottage” unit. It had two bedrooms, bath, kitchen. There were also outdoor spaces with tables for us to use.

After along day of traveling (red eye flight into Gatwick and a 3 hour drive to Burford), we checked in and simply got an early bedtime so we could adjust to the area.

Lynwood & Co Cafe

I had gotten up early, so I wandered the town and came across a place for a quick cup of cappuccino. A great way to start the day!

Wendell had never been to Avebury to see the Avebury Henge, so we took a drive to check it out. Avebury Henge is the largest ancient stone circle in the world. It was built the same time as Stone Henge, but is much larger. the nice thing about Avebury Henge is that you can walk around the stones and even touch them. There are three large circles, a trench and a berm that surround the henge. There are also two smaller circles, one north and one south. The town and roads go right through the circles.

There is a restaurant, the Red Lion, right in the middle of it. You can park in their parking lot if you stop for a meal, then you can walk over to check out the stones. You will need to register your car on a screen when you enter the restaurant to prevent you from getting a parking ticket. There is also a parking lot about ½ mile. Unfortunately the day we were there, there was no food service as they were expecting a large tour group in. Sandy and I ordered a beer while Wendell walked through the Henge.

We were still hungry, so we looked around and found another restarant further down the road called the Waggon & Horses.

Waggon & Horses

This place is famous for being in a Charles Dickens book, The Pickwick Papers. Charles Dickens must of frequented the place during his writings. It is believed that some of the stones used in its construction were from Avebury Henge.

The food here was pretty good. Wendell got the Meat Pie and Sandy and I got the burgers.

We wanted to explore Avebury Henge a bit more, so we headed back and parked in the parking lot designated for Avebury Henge. Wendell and I walked the informative trail and learned a bit more about Avebury Henge. However, the sky opened up and it started to rain, so we headed back to the car.

I was on a quest to get more of my favorite gin that I had discover on our last trip. This lead us to the town of Bourton On the Water. There was also a small scale Model Village that Wendell read about and wanted to see.

Bourton On The Water

Bourton-on-the-Water is a village in the rural Cotswolds area of south central England. Straddling the River Windrush, it’s known for its low bridges and traditional stone houses.

Windrush River in Bourton-On-The Water

We found a car park close to downtown and walked into the village. The Model Village was just inside the city as we walked into, so we went there first. The Model Village is one ninth scale model of the old part of town. Built in the 1930’s, it is continually updated to reflect the current businesses.

It was fun walking around. We felt like giants!

Cotswolds Distillery

My favorite gin distillery had a tasting room in Bourton-on-the-Water, so we stopped in and did a tasting. I also picked up a few bottles for the road (and to take home)

We drove back to Burford to get some rest. We aer still recovering from our long flight here. Since we were not feeling very hungry, I found a small cheese shop and picked up some cheese for a light dinner. We were able to sample the cheeses and picked some to take home. Luckily we got there before 5:00, as all the shops in this town close at 5:00.

After a short nap and some cheese with crackers, we headed into town to checkout the pubs. The Mermaid at Burford listed music every Friday and Saturday, so we started there. Unfortunately, we missed the summer schedule. We enjoyed a pint anyway, and moved on to the next pub.

Burford House

This 18th century house is a hotel and pub/cafe. The interior was very cozy and order some drinks and few small bites. Very relaxing.