May 22, 2018 — Chipping Campden and Broadway (the UK one)

Up early for a long trip. We decided on Chipping Campden today so left as early as we could. We fought traffic through the A350 construction but after that it was smooth sailing and in slightly under two hours, we arrived and found a parking place on Market Square. You are limited to 2 hours and 20 minutes so we set off on our walk that was supposed to be an hour and we usually take longer.

We walked through Chipping Campden taking many photos. At one point a man stopped us for a chat which was fun. We found St. James Church and got photos, skipped the Crafts Museum and checked all the menus on the way, finally deciding on the one that had been recommended. Good menu; good prices, but we needed to move the car so we’d have time to eat.

We finished our walk and went back to the car. Ed had noticed some free parking on the hill up to the church (Cidermill Lane) so we drove up and got the last place. Hooray! Walked on to the Eight Bells Inn and opened it at noon. It’s very nice and the staff was fantastic. Ed got the fish cake special and I got the lamb shank special. Both were excellent and we washed them down with a dark ale. We both got ice cream for dessert and I got an espresso. Eight Bells Inn, Church St, Chipping Campden GL55 6JG; tel: +44 (0)1386 840371; Click here for the Eight Bells Inn web site

Walked back to the car and left for Broadway. It was a more rural drive but not too bad and we pulled right into long-term parking and set off for downtown. Broadway is a lovely Cotswold village with lots of cute shops, tea rooms, benches, pink chestnut trees and grass. Charming! We walked through town and turned up Church Street to check out the church. As we opened the church door, an alarm went off scaring both of us. We soon determined it was a house across the street and not us so we walked through the rather spare church. Returned to the main street and started back to the car. Broadway was full of tourists on this lovely afternoon so we had lots of company.

Except for construction traffic, it was a beautiful but very long drive. Most pleasant day.