Day 1: The Kennet and Avon Canal lock system AKA Caen Locks

Some of you may know that Jim has a few little obsessions in life such as the arrangement of milk cartons in the pantry (see pic below), eating the same cereal every day and Pepsi Max. Another one is locks of the canal variety.  The Kennet and Avon Canal lock system was on our original list of places to see. I didn’t even know it was near the Cotswolds but Jim did!  Our first day was spent examining the locks- which are amazing by the way – from every angle and helping people move the mechanisms. Called the Caen Locks or Caen Hill they are a scheduled ancient monument. There are a total of 29 locks with a rise of 237 feet over 2 miles. The 16 locks that form the steepest part of the flight take 3 hours to navigate so you had better not be in a hurry!

Website 

Caen Hill Locks

Day 2 & 3: Cotswolds AONB

The Cotswolds is widely regarded as one of the prettiest “Areas of Natural Beauty” in the whole of the UK and its many villages the most picturesque. We did our best to visit as many as we could including the town of Lechlade where we were staying. Enjoy the pics!

Stow-on-the-Wold

Bourton on the Water

 

Upper Slaughter and Lower Slaughter

Lechlade-on-Thames

We had a real treat staying in a proper house in Lechlade. We love our little home but it was nice to be able to spread out. Many thanks to our friends Sarah and Johnno who rang and invited us to stay in their home while they were off to Portugal for a week. Their beautiful, tranquil home was just what we needed after a busy couple of weeks on the road. It was also a great place from which to explore the surrounding area. Sarah and Johnno were our very last guests at The Beach Retreat before we left for the UK. Look forward to seeing you soon, guys. Maybe on our way back from Scotland?

So that is it for August. Tomorrow we start the long drive to the far north of Scotland.  We will have two overnight stops on the way up then a ferry trip out to the remote Outer Hebridean islands of Harris and Lewis.  We will be there for a few days then go where our fancy takes us. Very happy to have any recommendations or ideas from your own bucket lists.

I find that when we are on the move I don’t often have the time or energy for the blog. We will be away for about two weeks so we will take pics and keep notes and be back to report on our latest adventures soon.

Bidh mi gad fhaicinn

See you soon

Jim and Frankie xx