As Oxford isn't far, many pubs/hotels/inns and other profit making enterprises in the Cotswold claim to have inspired something in the Lord of the Rings-
I am not sure I thought of that place re Bree, but apparently Tolkien was fairly easily inspired by various establishments (or needed a lot of local inspiration). clearly Tolkien had little imagination of his own.
Virtually farm and house has a name, but this one stood out for its audacity-
Like the Tolkien references, a lot publick places claim to be the oldest something and this pub claims to be the oldest England (circa 950) having begun operation 100+ years before William even thought of conquering England-
We are staying in Stow-on-the- Wold where Geo has strategically positioned us in the highest hill in the Cotswold (Wold meaning hill in Alfred's English). It is good at the beginning of each day when our legs are fresh and we start by happily glide downhill on our bikes. What goes down, must come up, however and it doesn't seem like such a great place around 4pm when we return.
But Stow, like many English villages, does a great job of advertising its principle tourist attractions-
And this house claims to be oldest in Stow- 1450- apparently to cover up the fact that the builder ran short of concrete on one side when he built the place a few years ago. Never heard of the Leaning Tower of Cotswold, but there you go-
Today's ride took us through some truly beautiful parts of the English countryside-
And but for the rain, mud, steep hills, zooming cars and the fact that Geo had to put the pedal to the metal to avoid an oncoming lorry, it was a great 35 mile cycle through the rolling hills and medieval stone villages of the Cotswold-
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