So today I took off into the Cotswolds at last. I haven't been in the area on a good run for quite some time, the last time being a quick breakfast meet with Steve in July 2019, and a longer run three years ago. The Cotswolds is usually 'rammed' with cars and tourists on hot sunny days so I've been waiting for a quieter time to ride the wonderful countryside through picturesque villages and visit some sites I had in mind too.
I left home around 8.30 am on this cool but sunny Autumn Sunday hoping for quiet roads at least for the early part of the ride, and thankfully very little traffic even through Pershore and around Evesham. My pre-plotted route includes a ride up and over Fish Hill, then a quick left at the top down to Chipping Campden for my first stop. A nice little section and Fish Hill is always fun with that sharp up-hill left-hander to tackle at speed while getting past a few cars keeping the group of sports bike riders in my mirrors too.
As I 'bimbled' along through the town admiring all of the pretty Cotswold stone buildings I couldn't resist stopping near the magnificent St James' church with it's bell tower dating back to around 1500. A really pleasant place to stop, stretch my legs and savour the calmness of the morning air with the sound of birds singing around the church grounds. I didn't go in to the church though, I sensed they would be preparing for Sunday worship at this time.
Back on the bike I continued down to Chipping Norton via the A3400 out of Shipston-On-Stour. Hardly any traffic so far, but as you'd expect with plenty of other kindred spirited bikers out too taking advantage of the sunshine I wasn't alone for long. While riding the B4026 to Charlbury I flipped the switch for my heated grips and occasionally dropped down my sun visor while listening to the 'Doobie Brothers' on the headset as I 'pinged off' over the river to take the B4437. I did consider stopping at Blenheim Palace but so looking forward to the ride down to Burford I continued on having more fun riding the faster sections while looking across open fields at the spectacular autumn countryside views replete with typical runs of Cotswold dry stone walls stretching out in all directions - sublime!
Before I knew it I was now crossing the Windrush River at Bibury. Quite a few cars parked up viewing those famous cottages, so on I went toward Cirencester and along the narrow Coln river valley road to my planned visit stop at Chedworth Roman Villa site. I parked my bike near the entrance and due to Covid restrictions had a 30 minute wait to gain access. This gave me chance to grab a drink of hot tea from the café and wander around admiring the glorious view across the valley and to do some reading up on the Villa history. It seems the whole site was discovered by accident in the 19th Century by a gamekeeper digging down to rescue his ferret!
What a find, dated around the 2nd to 4th Century there are the remains of a summer house and spa baths with underground heating. Many of the floors have some amazing tiled mosaic patterns that must have taken an age to lay. The geometric patterned designs almost 2000 years old were preserved in relatively good condition but sadly, some sections of the mosaic had been lost over time and maybe the colours had faded a little too, but we can clearly see the skill, craftsmanship and attention to detail.
The remains of the old courtyard could still be seen, and the small Victorian built museum displays a few of the smaller artefacts including cooking utensils and other everyday items. What a great place to spend an hour or so before returning to my bike and riding off along the rest of the valley. Well worth the slight diversion just off the old Fosse Way leading to the Roman governing seat of Cirencester.
Later in the afternoon I skirted around Cheltenham past Sudeley Castle down the big hill revealing a clear view of the Malvern Hills between the trees. I then picked a good route through to Winchcombe with a short break stop at the GWR (Gloucestershire, Warwickshire Railway) station before riding on through Kineton, Bredon and Ashchurch before riding up and over the Malverns and through the now ripening apple orchard Herefordshire countryside onto Bromyard and Great Witley arriving home just in time to prepare our evening meal. A very pleasant day out, and so glad I have removed the top box now. Given the chance of quieter roads the Cotswolds are perfect for spending a good day ambling along taking in its unique sights and scenery.
For todays route I chose to load the GPX file onto my Navigator and the Connected Phone app too combined with the TFT on screen instructions side by side simultaneously as a comparison. For most of the ride the app was very good at matching the Navigator like for like with only one or two minor differences and I did find myself taking more notice of the on screen instructions popping up on the TFT rather than the Navigator since I'm already looking at my speedo reading at the same time. The route was plotted using the very good on-line 'My-Route-App' followed by finer refinement in Garmin Basecamp before transferring to both the Navigator and to my phone the night before.
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