Oxfordshire - Cotswolds
My third and last day in Oxford was spent out of Oxford, namely in Burford because I still needed to figure out where I would stay next. This was my first adventure in driving in England, other than bringing the car up through town to the B&B the day before.
Although I'd studied the highway guide, encountering a double roundabout right away threw me for a loop. Driving on the other side of the road didn't bother me, and having the gear shift on the left made sense and felt natural, but I dreaded roundabouts and probably groaned aloud many times when a sign warned of one ahead, which happened frequently. Sometimes I'd get so focused on them, I'd forget that England has traffic lights as well. It wasn't just a matter of negotiating the traffic in roundabouts - some with multiple lanes, it was trying to figure out which turnoff to take. Often the signs wouldn't name the place I was looking for. I sure missed having my navigatoralong.
We have the luxury of space in North America and can be a little sloppy in our driving. In England, the tiny spaces in which people would cram their cars amazed me - they seem to know the exact width of their cars, because they have to. They also tend to drive like bats out of hell and it seems you can't go anywhere without a vehicle being behind you. That said, there were times that I really enjoyed the free-wheeling drives along country roads in the Cotswolds (sometimes without much traffic), while listening to Oxford Radio. Those are among my happiest memories.
I think it was on this outing, after the double roundabout, that I got slightly lost and wound up in a most beautiful spot. I don't know where or what it was but there was a collection of stone houses hidden away in the hilly terrain. The sun was out then. It was a magnificent sight - like a fairytale land. Unfortunately, there was absolutely nowhere to pull off to take a photo.
My third and last day in Oxford was spent out of Oxford, namely in Burford because I still needed to figure out where I would stay next. This was my first adventure in driving in England, other than bringing the car up through town to the B&B the day before.
Although I'd studied the highway guide, encountering a double roundabout right away threw me for a loop. Driving on the other side of the road didn't bother me, and having the gear shift on the left made sense and felt natural, but I dreaded roundabouts and probably groaned aloud many times when a sign warned of one ahead, which happened frequently. Sometimes I'd get so focused on them, I'd forget that England has traffic lights as well. It wasn't just a matter of negotiating the traffic in roundabouts - some with multiple lanes, it was trying to figure out which turnoff to take. Often the signs wouldn't name the place I was looking for. I sure missed having my navigatoralong.
We have the luxury of space in North America and can be a little sloppy in our driving. In England, the tiny spaces in which people would cram their cars amazed me - they seem to know the exact width of their cars, because they have to. They also tend to drive like bats out of hell and it seems you can't go anywhere without a vehicle being behind you. That said, there were times that I really enjoyed the free-wheeling drives along country roads in the Cotswolds (sometimes without much traffic), while listening to Oxford Radio. Those are among my happiest memories.
I think it was on this outing, after the double roundabout, that I got slightly lost and wound up in a most beautiful spot. I don't know where or what it was but there was a collection of stone houses hidden away in the hilly terrain. The sun was out then. It was a magnificent sight - like a fairytale land. Unfortunately, there was absolutely nowhere to pull off to take a photo.
From the net, edited:
The Cotswolds are a range of hills in southwestern and west-central England, an area 25 miles across and 90 miles long (40 x 145 km for anyone who thinks in metric). The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The highest point in the range is Cleeve Hill at just over 1000 ft, north of Cheltenham. The spine of the Cotswolds runs southwest to northeast through six counties. The area is characterized by attractive small towns and villages built of the underlying Cotswold stone - limestone rich in fossils. In the Middle Ages the wool trade made the area prosperous. Some of the money was put into the building of churches so the area has a number of large and handsome Cotswold stone 'wool churches'.
Why Burford, 'gateway to the Cotswolds'? It looked like an easy drive being fairly close to Oxford - about 20 miles west, it is a town as opposed to a village, and I liked the look of it in pictures.
Again, from the net:
Burford is situated in north Oxfordshire. Its High Street slopes from the high Wolds... where there are beautiful views over the open countryside, down to the willow fringed River Windrush in the pretty Windrush valley. A fine three arched medieval bridge crosses the river at the foot of the hill.
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