A Day in the Cotswolds

In the Cotswolds we went on a "secret cottage tour."  The thatched cottage pictured here belongs to Becky, our guide for the day.  Her stone house was built in 1580 as lodging for workers in the manor. I can tell you that they don't make 'em like that any more. The cottage was originally a triplex for three families. It now houses one. Becky added a kitchen, and it was there that we had coffee as we started out, and had lunch later on. We toured picturesque villages in a comfortable Mercedes mini-van, and then came back at the end of the day for cream tea with scones and assorted sweets. Thanks to the Internet, and in particular, TripAdvisor, Becky's tour is not a secret.   She started it only a year ago, figuring that tourists would like to see how locals live. She now entertains travel journalists from around the world, and I predict that Becky's business will grow to where she herself will not be spending six hours a day driving strangers around.

In addition to touring Cotswold villages with thatched roof houses we visited a falconry. We saw two demonstrations -- it would be an overstatement to call them shows. The birds were actually being trained to fly away. The handler said that in general birds don't really like to fly. It's a lot of work. They fly to get food. Birds that are fed by handlers are perfectly content to sit around until the next meal time. At the place we visited the handler threw into the air disgusting parts of chicken for birds to swoop around and catch. As they soar and ride air thermals they sometimes spot prey on the ground, and take a detour.  One bird, a lass named Maggie, stayed away from home for several weeks. The falconry knew where she was because she was tagged. They also knew that she would come back home when she wanted an easy meal. Maggie was happy to demonstrate for us her ability to snatch disgusting chicken parts thrown into the air.