We decamped from Hereford for our last three days in the Cotswolds prior to returning home.  Always been one of my favourite places but I have to say now that it is not what it used to be due to the massive tourist industry and the shear numbers of cars and people.  We stayed at a Caravan Club site near Burford; nice site but full of motor homes and new top of the range caravans - what happened to all the simple, low cost caravans and how do so many people afford motor homes at upwards of 50K?

We drove into Bourton-on-the-Water but quite honestly we might as well have driven straight out as apart from the nightmare of finding somewhere to park this beautiful town with the river running through it was crammed with tourists, hundreds of kids wading through the water and whilst I'm sure the local shopkeepers were rubbing their hands as the tills rolled the picture on the left is what we would have preferred to see rather than the one on the right.

Neadless to say we didn't stay long and made our way to Stow-on-the-Wold, another place that has fond memories for me.  I remember, not long after I had met Jane we went there and after looking in the jewellers, Jane decided to chase me down the road saying "marry me, marry me" much to the amusement of others nearby and to my embarrassment.  Again, I know we can't get away from it but all these old towns are spoiled by the cars and the tourists which of course we are also; I remember saying the same thing about the lovely old historical town of Sienna in Italy when we went there a few years ago (Picturebook Italy).

Next up came our last town, and I hoped the best, Chipping Camden.  I remembered this from years ago as being very old, musty almost, and with real character, a bit like the town portrayed in the original Hovis ad.  Again discounting the traffic it still retains much of its charm, from the Market Hall at one end of the street, via the old Market Hall to the ancient Jacobean almshouses at the other end and just round the corner St James Church, it oozes history and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

The Cotswolds, now designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, was a very different place nearly 400 years ago when it was the scene of many bloody battles in the English Civil War fought between King Charles I and the Royalists (Cavaliers), and the supporters of Parliament (Roundheads).  These wars would lead to the trial and execution of Charles I, the exile of his son (later to become Charles II), and the replacement of the English monarchy with the Commonwealth of England and later the Protectorate under the personal rule of Oliver Cromwell.  The Cotswolds were of great strategic importance in the Civil War as the king had his headquarters at Oxford and the Parliamentarians had garrisons at Gloucester and Bristol with sympathisers at Malmesbury and Cirencester.  

Bourton-on-the-Water, 'Venice of the Cotswolds' as it is now known, has history going back to the Stone Age, 300BC, whilst the known early settlers were of Celtic ancestry.  Bourton was a blend of Burgh (fort) and ton (village) meaning loosely 'Fort by the Village' and was given by early Saxon settlers.  The Romans invaded in 50AD leaving their mark with the Fosse Way Roman road that travels along the western end of the village and a camp in the area known today as Lansdowne.  The Fosse Way contributed to Bourton-on-the-Water's strategic location in later years and during the 17th Century traders diverted the river to flow through the town and not around it, hence the elongated name.

Most of the Cotswold towns had connections with the Civil War.  In 1644 King Charles I took refuge at the White Hart Royal Hotel, a 17th century coaching inn in Moreton-in-Marsh, prior to his capture and execution.  The Battle of Stow, the last battle in the English Civil War, took place at Stow on the Wold on 21st March 1646 when a Royalist army in a desperate attempt to join up with King Charles at Oxford was defeated by a Parliamentary force and over 1000 men were imprisoned within St Edward’s church.  So great was the slaughter that it was said that ducks were able to bathe in the pools of blood that formed on the street leading away from the market square and is said to be the origin of the street’s name “Digbeth” or “Duck’s Bath”.