Day 12 - Around Painswick

Distance walked: 14km, Alcohol consumed: 2 large glasses wine

We all congregated in the dining room for breakfast - myself, Mary and the poachers of my four poster room plus another couple. Both of the other couples, 1 American and 1 Australian, were walking the Cotswold Way. We breakfasted on lumpy porridge and rather decent coffee.  We also had toast from freshly made bread - which is impossible to slice when it is straight out of the oven. We had doorstops rather than slices. Mary insisted on making bright conversation. Morning people are evil.

After breakfast, the hikers set off and Mary and I drove up to the Painswick Beacon, which is an Iron Age hill fort nestled in the middle of a golf course. We had some trouble finding it as it is just earth ramparts and Mary kept looking for stone towers and the like.

After (finding and) exploring the hill fort we set of for the Roman villa at Great Whitcombe. Driving there was rather exciting as a long part of the journey was along country lanes, barely a car wide, and through a farmer’s yard at one point. Mary was convinced we had come at it by the back entrance but it turned out it is the only way to get to it. It is an unstaffed site with a single information board but we had an interesting time clambering around the ruins and trying to work out what each room was used for.

After this we set out for the Roman villa at Chedworth. We started off barrelling down a motorway before abruptly turning off down country lanes again. This time it was me who was convinced the GPS was sending us down a subsidiary path but I was wrong. The villa here must have been huge when it was intact and there was plenty still to see, including mosaics in the dining room and the bathing area. We arrived just in time for a free tour which was very interesting and also entertaining. This took about an hour and then we wandered about on our own for about another hour.

Finally we set off for Nailsworth for lunch. However, this is a village at the bottom of a narrow valley. We successfully negotiated the switchback roads down to the village but found ourselves through the village and heading up the other side before we could find anywhere to park. Cars aren’t always convenient. We decided to head to Stroud for lunch instead.

Stroud is bigger and we had no trouble finding a park. We set off to find somewhere that would still serve us lunch as it was getting close to 2pm by this stage. We stopped at the first bistro we came to - Dinner at 6 - which turned out to be excellent. We shared a basket of various fresh breads with olives and olive oil & balsamic vinegar. I then had a 3 cheese omelette with a salad. Comfort food and tasty.

After lunch we started to do an historical trail around Stroud, using notice boards set up by the local tourist bureau. However, halfway through it started to pour with rain so we gave up and ran back to the car, to head back to Painswick. When we got back the rain had stopped, so we went to the Painswick Rococo gardens which are just fabulous. Rococco gardens are meant to impressive with follies and random statues and even mazes. They are meant as outdoor entertaining spaces. If I ever have a garden (with the requisite army of gardens) I want a roccco garden.

After a wash and a rest, we wandered around Painswick, following its local tourist bureaus trail. We came across an old (15th century) house that was up for sale. We were curious until we saw the price in a shop window - 1,365,000 pounds - and it was virtually derelict.

We decided to try a different pub for dinner - The Falcon. This proved to be a mistake. They were advertising for restaurant staff. Never eat at a restaurant that is looking to hire a chef. Our meal had all the hallmarks of being cooked by an apprentice who was out of his depth. We both had the French onion soup to start. The onions had clearly been cooked just long enough to soften, but not colour, them. They had then been pureed (why?) and some stock added. Before serving some balsamic vinegar had been drizzled on top (again why?). The soup had the colour and consistency of pureed apple and no flavour.

For main I had pork belly with cabbage and sweet potato. The pork belly had a layer of fat 2-3cm thick and rubbery skin. The sweet potato was harmless, but the cabbage had been fried briefly with random chunks (different sizes and shapes) of bacon. Disappointing.

Back to the B&B to pack for an early departure. Iris is sweet but I would really like to sleep in a comfortable bed one night soon.