W
ell, it’s finally here! After nearly two years of planning, the trip has begun as my mom, my aunt Sandy, cousin Chris, and I set off for the UK. With the excitement of the trip looming, we all slept like crap on Sunday night, our last night in the States for the next two weeks. None of us managed to get any real sleep on the flight over, so by the time we landed, jet lag had fully set in, and we were all a bit zombified. However, we soldiered on, grabbed our bags, and caught the shuttle to Enterprise to pick up the car.
We ended up with a Peugeot 3008 hybrid that is actually really cool. Mom stepped up and took the first shift behind the wheel, driving us to Bourton-on-the-Water. This is my third time visiting the town, affectionately known as the Venice of the Cotswolds, and I think I’ve enjoyed it more each time. We couldn’t check into our Airbnb until 4 pm, so we had a little time to kill. Mom and I dropped off Chris and Sandy in the center of town while we attempted to find parking.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any close-by street parking and ended up parking back down behind the Royal British Legion and Range Rover service station that we used on our last trip here. We also attempted to find the Airbnb, so we knew exactly where we were going when we finally checked in, but we couldn’t make sense of the written directions or the misleading location of the Google Maps pin for the address. Nevertheless, we decided that was a problem for later, and walked back to town to meet up with Chris and Sandy.
Bleary-eyed, but excited, we decided it was a good time for our first meal in the UK. We headed to The Old Manse, the same place Mom and I had been to two years ago when we were here. The Old Manse, initially built in 1748, comprises a pub and restaurant on the ground floor and an inn on the stories above. We tucked into a small corner table and looked over the menu of quintessential British pub fare, including fish and chips, meat pies, and more. Mom, Sandy, and I chose the beef and ale pie, and Chris ordered the rump steak sandwich. Whether because of the lack of sleep or our voracious appetites, none of us thought to snap a single photo while at the Old Manse.
Upon finishing, Chris and I set off to find the Airbnb to pick up the keys and the remote control for the electronic gate to our private parking spot. Again, perhaps due to our current state of exhaustion, this proved easier said than done. Before leaving the Old Manse, Chris asked the barman if he could help with directions, and he provided us with some landmarks and streets to look for to help us find our way. Armed with his verbal directions, the Airbnb host’s written directions, and Google Maps, we wandered the streets searching unsuccessfully for about 10 minutes. Eventually, we even tried calling the host to get more specific directions, but couldn’t figure out how to dial UK numbers, lol. Frustrated and tired, we decided to walk to the end of the street we were on to see if we recognized any of the landmarks we were looking for. At that moment, we realized that for 10 minutes, we had been standing in front of the building next to the one we were looking for, haha!
Both amused and ashamed by our directional ineptitude, we acquired the key and gate remote and did a quick walkthrough of the Airbnb. It’s unclear to me whether this is an old building in remarkably good condition or a newer construction built to match the look and feel of the traditional Cotswold architectural style. Regardless, it’s a fantastic property with four bedrooms and three bathrooms across three stories. I was gifted the third-story main bedroom, with an en suite bathroom, which I suspect was mainly because no one else wanted to walk up three stories, haha.
Chris and I then walked back to the car so we could pick up Mom and Sandy and then bring them back to the Airbnb. This was my first time driving on the left side of the road since my last trip two years ago. It’s not as difficult as it sounds. Still, it’s definitely nice to have someone in the passenger seat to help remind you how to navigate the roundabouts and intersections, and also alert you when you’re getting dangerously close to a curb, wall, hedgerow, or pedestrian.
After picking up Mom and Sandy, we headed to the B&B to get everyone settled in and try to fight off the exhaustion long enough to sleep through the night. After sitting for a bit, it was clear that if we stayed in, we were all going to fall asleep. So, we decided to go for a little walk around the town. We first walked through the local church cemetery, where we met a lovely English woman who asked where we were visiting from. It turned out that her son had moved to Cincinnati about 20 years ago. It truly is a small world. We then meandered our way across the arched canal bridges and through the winding little back alleys filled with shops, restaurants, and ice cream stalls before deciding to head back for the night.
On the way, we stopped at Budgen’s, a UK-based convenience store chain, to buy some snacks and drinks for the next few days. Mom was really keen to buy some Cadbury Dairymilk chocolate bars, but unfortunately was beaten to it by an Indian family who bought more than $300 worth of the chocolate, leaving the shelves mostly bare by the time Mom got to them. The woman at the checkout was quite gruff and unpleasant to everyone she interacted with, and seemed to genuinely dislike dealing with tourists and the public in general. Perhaps working at a convenience store in a popular tourist town isn’t the best role for her, lol. But we didn’t let her surliness dampen our mood and headed back to wind down for the evening, with the goal of making it to 7 pm local time before going to bed. Mom, Sandy, and Chris iced their various aching joints and muscles as I began writing up this recap.
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aving successfully overcome the jetlag, we began our first full day of the trip with a walk to town to visit some shops and headed to the Bakery on the Water for breakfast. I ordered an Americano and a cinnamon roll. Mom got a lemon cake and a mocha. Chris got a pan au chocolat and a coffee, and Sandy got a tea and a scone. Fully fed and caffeinated, we headed to the post office to grab stamps so Mom, Sandy, and Chris could get stamps to send back postcards.
Next, Chris took her first turn at driving, as we headed out to the Diddly Squat Farm Shop, owned by Jeremy Clarkson and featured heavily in the Amazon Prime show Clarkson’s Farm. She took to driving very quickly, and the farm show was an absolute blast. We all bought some snacks and then walked around to the back of the shop to the seating area that had a few vendors and a counter where you could buy Hawkstone Brewery beers. We began to notice that nearly everyone we encountered had a dog, and we struck up many conversations with locals after asking to pet their dogs. Chris, whose dog had recently passed away, was experiencing dog fever and kept seeing cockapoos everywhere. We met a woman from Gloucester with a whippet named Rosie and a couple from Leeds with a pair of cockapoos named Dexter and Lady. Everyone was eager to hear about our trip and share ideas for other things we might enjoy along the way. We sampled some of the foods and shared a few half pints of beer between the four of us before hopping back in the car to head to the pub that Clarkson purchased and reopened on the most recent season of the show, called The Farmer’s Dog.
First, we checked out the shop on the grounds of the pub, located in the giant tent that Clarkson, along with his co-hosts James May and Richard Hammond, used to host the first few seasons of Amazon’s “The Grand Tour.” Mom bought a Diddly Squat Farm sweatshirt, and then we headed into the pub, where everyone but me had a pint. As someone who rarely drinks these days, I opted to let them all have the fun and handle the drive back. While we sat on the giant patio at the back, we met another couple from Blackpool who had a very old, blind cockapoo. We had a great conversation with them about our trip and their current travels. After about half an hour, they headed off, and then, ironically enough, the couple from Leeds that we had met at Diddly Squat showed up with their dogs. After recognizing us, we invited them to join us at the big table we were at and spent the rest of our time talking and laughing. We had a wonderful time, and everyone we met was so kind and welcoming.
We left The Farmer’s Dog with the plan of heading to the Upper and Lower Slaughters, where Chris and I were planning to walk back to Bourton-on-the-Water. While driving, we changed our plans and decided to head back to the B&B instead, then walk from there. Chris attempted to update the google maps destination, however, with a weak signal in the rural area, it didn’t go through – a fact we didn’t realize until we ended up in the Slaughters anyway, driving extremely narrow and fairly crowded streets before accidentally ending up on a single-track road that is clearly meant for local and farm traffic, not tourists like us. I found the road on Google Maps; it’s located between Rose Row and the B4068. What’s interesting is that if you try to get directions from one end of that road to the other, it actually routes you 4.2 miles around the farms instead of straight through the mile of private road that we had stumbled upon. Oops!
Eventually, we popped back out onto a more comfortable two-lane road. We found our way back to Bourton-on-the-Water, where we relaxed for a bit before heading into town for dinner at L’anatra, an Italian restaurant that caught Chris’s eye the day before. The atmosphere at the restaurant was predictably charming, and the food was also quite tasty. Mom and Chris both got the carbonara, Sandy got the diavolo pizza, and I ordered the bolognese. It wasn’t the best I’ve had, but it was certainly above average and better than nearly any bolognese I’ve found in the States. Like most places in the Cotswolds we had seen, L’anatra was dog-friendly. In fact, when Chris set our reservation, they asked how many people would be with us and if we would have a dog or not. Our service was excellent, and they were accommodating when I inquired about separate checks. Would definitely go back again if I ever find myself in the town again.
Today was a better first day than I could have ever imagined. Everyone had such a fantastic time, and we all got along great. Tomorrow, we’re heading to Croft Castle, where our ancestors once lived, and then to Conwy in Northern Wales, with a stop in Wrexham on the way. So excited for the rest of this trip!
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n day three of the trip, we started with another stop at Bakery on the Water before heading to Croft Castle. Initially, when we planned the trip, we were going to get two rental cars, and Mom and I were going to skip Croft Castle and head to Wrexham to hopefully catch a football match. But the schedule didn’t line up, and tickets were tough to get, even if they did. So, we decided it was best to save the extra rental money and go with Chris and Sandy to Croft Castle, then stop for a bit in Wrexham on our way from the castle to Conwy.
Chris drove the whole way to Croft Castle, Wrexham, and Conwy. She took to it super quickly, way faster than my mom and I did a few years ago. We got to Croft Castle just as they opened and were greeted by a docent who asked if we had ever been there before. When I mentioned that Mom and I had been there a few years ago, and pointed out the painting we had talked to a docent about last time, thinking it might be our last ancestor who lived in the castle, George Croft. She said that in the two years since we had been there, they had confirmed that the painting was indeed of George and confirmed the dates and relationships I had found in my research.
While walking around the first floor of the castle, I heard the piano from a few rooms away playing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and made my way toward it to watch and listen to the last half of the song. It was a bit anachronistic, but the old piano sounded great in the large room.
On the second floor, while we were looking at the wall-sized family tree, the docent who had greeted us met us there with some additional documentation on the relationships and stories of our ancestors. It turns out that one of the reasons we hadn’t been able to find much information about our last ancestor from the property, George, was because his father, Edward Croft, was put on trial in 1589 for having contrived the death of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester and Royal Favourite of the Queen, by witchcraft. So there’s little information about Edward or his son George, as they were a bit on the outs with the family.
Edward’s father, James, however, has quite a bit of information on his history. At one point, he was the Lord Deputy of Ireland, he was granted Tintern Abbey, imprisoned twice in the Tower of London, and somehow, eventually named one of the 36 commissioners for the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots, which convicted her of treason and led to her execution. The most interesting part to me is that the other side of my grandma’s family was descendants of the Blairs of Ayr, Scotland, supporters of William Wallace, who fought for Scotland’s independence nearly 250 years before Mary Queen of Scots was born.
When we were planning this trip, I was a little bummed at spending time during the vacation coming to Croft Castle for the third time, but each time, I’ve learned more about my family’s history, and it’s so great to finally get confirmation about all of the bits of info I had pieced together on our heritage.
After walking the grounds, we hopped back in the car and Chris drove us to Wrexham on our way to Conwy. We stopped at The Turf for a pint and were met by a local man in the parking lot who was clearly enjoying his small amount of fame as he bragged about being in season 1 episode 4 of Welcome To Wrexham. He chatted with us for quite a while before we went inside. He was very friendly, and the conversation was fun, but we were excited to get inside and see The Turf again. We spent a few minutes chatting with Wayne, who asked where we were traveling from. When I told him about our trip and mentioned that Mom and I had been there a few years ago, he actually remembered some details from our last conversation and that we had stopped by before. He was super friendly, and we loved having the opportunity to talk with him a bit.
Before leaving the city, we stopped in the team store for AFC Wrexham, then headed out for the final hour drive to Conwy. We got all of our bags unpacked and checked in, and went to Alfredo’s for dinner. After dinner, I took the car to park it somewhere that we could leave it overnight, just outside the city wall. Unfortunately, in the dark, I didn’t notice the turn to the street with the parking until I had already passed it. So I just turned on the next left, which happened to be a tiny, single-lane bridge. I couldn’t immediately turn around because there was another car behind me, so I drove to the next pull-off to let the car by and turn around.
Eventually, I made my way back across the tiny bridge and turned onto the correct street. The parking is alongside the street on a steep hill with a pay-to-park machine at the bottom. Unfortunately I had to park at the top of the hill and walk down to the machine to pay, only to find out that I needed the license plate number of the car, so I walked back to the top of the hill and took a picture of it, then made my way back to the machine, paid, and walked back to meet the others to walk around and see Conwy at night before turning in for the day.
So far, the trip has way outperformed all of our expectations. Great weather, scenery, and conversations!
