Cotswolder Travel Guide

We have been home for several weeks - recovered from jetlag, unpacked, bonded with the cat, got the leak under the sink fixed - and are back into our routine. I am happy to be back in my nice home office! I have been working on the content for the “Cotswolder” website and hope to have it ready in another month or two.

Here is a good article about vacation rentals for two in England: 20 Romantic Cottages for Two, Treat your loved one to a romantic Valentine’s getaway in a bolthole for two. From a converted dovecot to a former coastguard station, Annabelle Thorpe picks 20 unique country retreats which are all available in February. The Observer, Sunday January 13 2008.

I am making a list of my favorite vacation rental agencies and other resources for finding vacation rentals in the Cotswolds - comparing websites, comparing prices for US agencies who represent England agencies (I am surprised at how much you can save by booking with the English agency). I am also writing up descriptions of our favorite Cotswolds towns and activities. I will post on this blog when I get the new pages added.

Chris and Frank are in Paris

Chris, a SlowTrav moderator, and her husband Frank are in Paris for three weeks. I have been following along on her blog The Best Trip Ever. The weather has been colder and wetter than she expected, especially compared to their California weather at home, but the trip sounds relaxed and delightful.

More About Jane Austen

I uploaded my collection of Jane Austen photos to Cotswolder. Over the years we have been to Steventon where she was born and lived for the first part of her life, Adlestrop in the Cotswolds where she visited her uncle, Bath where she lived after leaving Steventon, Chawton where she moved to after Bath (her father died and she moved with her mother and sister to live near her brother), and Winchester Cathedral where she is buried. We have not seen the house she lived in at Winchester for the last few months before she died and we still have to see some southern England sights that she would have seen.

I found a good “Jane Austen” walk from her home in Chawton on a Hampshire tourist website. Literary Walks in East Hampshire: A Walk from Chawton to Farringdon (a PDF file opens).
“…and the plan is that we should all walk with her to drink tea at Faringdon” Letter to Cassandra, 29th May 1811.

Church in Steventon where Jane Austen’s father was the Rector.

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We left the Nailsworth cottage on Monday around noon and drove to Gatwick. It was a three hour trip: two and a half hour drive, half an hour at a M&S motorway stop for a sandwich. This was my first time driving this close to London and on the M25 (London area ring road). The driving is more intense closer to London - more cars, faster drivers - and the roundabouts are less casual. You have to know which lane to be in for your exit and if you get into the wrong one, people do not like to let you change lanes.

The last two trips, when flying from Gatwick, we stayed at the Alexander House, a beautiful country house hotel in Turners Hill, about ten minutes from Gatwick. This time we stayed in their sister hotel, Langshott Manor, a 16th century manor house on the outskirts of Horsley, ten minutes from Gatwick.

Langshott Manor, hotel near Gatwick

The hotel was very nice. It is small - 22 rooms and a restaurant - and even though it is very close to the airport and on the edge of Horsley, it is in the beautiful West Sussex countryside with a few acres of beautiful gardens.

We checked into the hotel, walked around the gardens, then took our bags to the airport. British Airways offers evening checkin, the night before your flight. The airport was empty and the checkin went quickly. This meant we were checked in and had our boarding passes, so would have an easier time in the morning.

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