Butt Wear, Tolls, Barges, Holsteins and a solid Garage

Today took us on our last leg of our bike journey, from the old Roman town of Cirencester to the old Roman town of Bath, some 39 miles away as the cyclist measures it.  

We passed through a number of medieval market villages along our route.  During the middle ages, in the village square, there was often a small stone 'gazebo like' structure (for you Americans) where trading stalls would be set up.  In the middle of these stone structures was usually a stone pedestal with a circular stone seat revolving around it where people would sit.  If you notice the below, you will see these stones seats were worn down over the centuries by endless medieval trading butts-

Our ride took us through quite a bit of farmland today with some familiar Vermont-like faces-

Really pretty cows.  As some of the pictures have shown, houses made of the slab like orange Cotswold stone, both medieval and new, are ubiquitous.  But a new stone garage?  Maybe that's what we will do in Meredith-

We have visited many beautiful medieval churches- circa 1050-1450- but none more impressive and spectacular than the ruined Benedictine abbey church at M-: where the soaring tower collapsed in the  15th century (lightning strike) destroying half the church.  The remains of the church were still awesome with the flying buttresses (circa 1170 and Henry II)-

The abbey and church hold the remains of Athelstan, grandson of Alfred the Great, and the first king of Angleland (d.940)-

Speaking of medieval times, as we biked into Bath, we ran into a woman standing in the middle of abridge in the road holding a hat and collecting tolls-

Tradition dies hard in England, I guess (at least when it comes to certain taxes or tolls).  

Once through the toll (bikers, being more superior, pay nothing and we didn't even deign to glance at the woman), we cycled along a barge canal path into the city.  The canal was built in the late 1700s before the advent of the railroads- there is large network of canals throughout England-, but today the canals carry people on holiday around much of Britain.  Geo said you can rent them (but we had no time)-

As usual, our ride took us through the scenic countryside and some beautifully preserved medieval villages in the Cotswold-