David and I spent last weekend walking with some lovely guests on our Autumn Splendour in the Cotswolds trail.
Saturday produced the perfect autumn day, vivid blue skies and the countryside full of bright colours – oranges, reds, various greens and golds.
There were some magnificent scenes with silhouetted tree trunks bursting upwards and lit up by coloured tree canopies above, whilst rays of sunshine fell on valley and woodland floors.
We paused for hot tea and cookies on an ancient common to hear the story of “Gladys’ Leap”, a spot where post lady Gladys used to do a rather impressive leap across the brook to cut 2 miles off her daily post round! The spot was named after her when she retired.
We also enjoyed the sight of a Kingfisher’s bright blue back as it darted for many minutes over a forest pond.
Sunday bought more autumn splendour. A cloudier day showed up the yellow in the leaves and made them appear almost illuminous. We were very fortunate to enjoy another dry day and returned to the pub with the first light spots of rain.
There were many laughs along the way, but also some quieter moments when we were all lost in thought whilst in awe of the spectacular countryside that surrounded us.
It was a pleasure to spend a weekend in the Cotswolds and with such lovely guests.
