On Monday morning, the sun was fighting with the fog to shine through and give us a nice day. The weather channel was calling for rain so we opted for a driving day out instead of walking. We chose to stay as close to Malmesbury as possible and thought a National Trust day was in order. Our destination: Dyrham Park, which consists of a huge 17th century home and 270 acres of ancient parkland.
On the way to our destination we passed the first B&B where we’d stayed while walking the Cotswold Way. It’s a wonderful walk, moderate challenge, that extends from Bath to Chipping Campden. It was fun to see that absolutely nothing had changed…even it seems, Poof Woods, as we dubbed it! You’ll have to ask one of the walkers on that trip about that one!
Dyrham Park sits at the bottom of a small valley with beautiful views from the fields above. Deer wander all over the park and it’s fun to take the trails and see if you can spot them. The home itself is magnificent containing furniture from centuries past. A Victorian kitchen finishes the tour of the house. We only wandered for a few miles around the park, trying to avoid the drizzle that was coming down. It took us about three hours to tour the site as there were few people there after the busy Mother's Day weekend.
Next stop: Tollgate Tea Room, just around the corner. I’d read that this was a suggested stop from some magazine in my distant memory. We popped into this adorable building (Yes, an old tollgate building) to join just one other group of two ladies and their baby. I had a Cream Tea, which included two scones the size of the baby’s head. Vinnie opted for the potato/leek soup and brown bread. It was delicious and lived up to its reputation! I could only eat one scone so my partner willingly ate the other to have his first experience of clotted cream heavily slathered on, then topped with jam… YUM! I think he’s a convert!!
We headed back to Malmesbury to clean up and go to dinner at The Vine Tree, just down the road near Foxley. It was very good, though Vinnie was a bit disappointed in his meal. This is the second time one of us has tried Pork Belly here in England…both times it wasn’t cooked enough to make it tender as we have always experienced in New Zealand or USA. My food, however, was fantastic!! I’d highly recommend this place just based on that. The dessert, Sticky Toffee Pudding, put it over the top! Delicious!!!
Next day… our big walk in preparation of Offa’s Dyke trek that begins this Saturday (and to work off last night's pudding)! We drove back to Tetbury and parked in long term parking near the IT. The plan was to begin on the “Monarch's Way” that goes right through the town and go N\north, then loop over and catch the “McMillian Way” that crosses over the top of Tetbury then follow it down the West side to make a large loop around the town. The Monarch’s Way is well marked, the latter…not so well marked. It was a fun walk, not too tough, ending up to be just under 14 miles from start to finish. We saw a wonderful Long Barrow along the way that we poked through and many, many baby sheep that bounced through the fields! We managed the entire walk without having to back track or make any adjustments due to bad navigation! Hip, Hip, Hooray!
After dropping our bags in the car we headed to one of our favorite Pubs, “The Snooty Fox” for a quick refreshing drink then back to our abode! Good day! Yesterday evening we hit “Europa” in Malmesbury for dinner… very good Italian styled food.
Today, another rainy day, we drove south to visit the ruins of a 15th Century castle, Wardour Castle in south Wiltshire. It's a very nicely maintained medieval building, built as a showpiece, then captured and recaprured back and forth several times between the Royalist Arundel owners and the Parliamentarian troops. Finally, when an Arundel heir recaptured it for the last time, he managed to destroy much of the castle doing so. On the way back to Malmesbury, we stopped at a delightful manor home, WSestwood Manor near Bradfor-on-Avon. The home has been lived in constantly since it was built in the 17th Century, and with a roof over it's head the whole time, the plaster and woodwork inside are in magnificent condition. There's also a parish church on the property, complete with gargoyles and lots of fun history.
Back to Malmesbury and an excellent Indian dinner tonight, now to bed to get up early and drive to Heathrow to get Stephen in morning.
