Cowbright: Bourton-on-the-Water

The Cotswolds are made up of many villages of varying sizes. Though they have much in common due to their age, proximity and architecture, they each seem to have their own personality. It's fun to explore the different villages, no matter their size. Four miles from Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water is a popular tourist spot, with the Windrush river flowing through its middle. Bourton hosts lots of one-of-a-kind shops, tea rooms and other eating establishments along both sides of the water. At Christmas, the village tree sits in the middle of the river.

several stone foot bridges cross Windrush river - shops on either side

We visited Birdland (Bourton's outdoor bird park) because for some time now I have been wanting to photograph flamingos. The park, though nicely kept, was relatively small. And the flamingos were located so far away that even with my telephoto lens they appeared too small. They insisted on standing in the sun, when I really needed them to move over into the shade, and they basically slept through our entire visit! Sadly, their lack of cooperation, coupled with the bright sun/harsh shadows produced very few shots worth keeping. :(

King Penguin

brothers at Birdland

However, it was a fun day trip and we enjoyed having lunch in an English tea room and walking around the village. Ronnie even found a leisure center with a pool that he could train in, so he's been riding his bike over to swim a couple of times a week.

hard to pass right on by!

oh so British!

Other tourist attractions are the Batsford Arboretum and the Model Village, a miniature of Bourton-on-the-Water village made of authentic materials depicting the village as it was in 1937. Maybe for another day?

The Vine House, along main street

We went to two different tea rooms before finding an available table for lunch. Believe it or not, the British tea rooms are not all scones and cream. Ronnie had a delicious lasagna and I had a cheese and tomato pannini.

small tea rooms are crowded


dessert sign above our table

We cut off the main street to try to find the swim facility Ronnie wanted to check out. The side streets into the neighborhoods are often more interesting than the touristy areas. As we walked down this lane (below) I stopped to take a photo of a bird I'd never seen before. An older lady saw me so I asked her what it was. To my surprise, it was a robin (Britain's national bird) but it looked nothing at all like the robbins we have in the US. Both being bird lovers, we exchanged stories the rest of the way down the lane.