Moving Day

Today was a repositioning day. After two days in Oxford, it was time to get to Winchcombe. It looked like kind of a nothing day.

I caught the bus from Winchcombe to Cheltenham no problem. The central bus stand in Cheltenham is amazing for its lack of information about the bus schedules.  So I ended up missing the bus to Winchcombe which was out of service while parked behind another bus, then went into service and left before I could figure out that I wanted to be on it.  Fortunately, there was another one 25 minutes later that it turned out got there at about he same time as the other one. I don't get it and I don't need to know why.

I get to Winchcombe and drop my bags. I'm not hungry. So I head out to Sudeley Castle. This is a back yard on the way there.

Sudeley Castle dates back to the 1200s. It was once owned by Richard III and was a principal residence of Henry VIII. It has been privately owned since the 1800s by the current family. There is more history out there. You can wiki it.

As it is still in use as a private residence, you can take photos of the historical displays, but, that is boring.  They ask you to respect their privacy and not take pictures of the residence rooms that are on display. So I took a picture of the view outside.

They have extensive gardens on the ground that they are continually restoring.

This is the chapel.

And this is where it gets interesting, Catharine Parr, Henry VIII's final wife is buried here. She is 

E only former queen of England buried in a private residence.

Another garden on the grounds.

 

They have a pheasantry where the collect pheasants from around the world for conservation reasons.

This is the final view of the castle before I left.

Now for the part without pictures. I didn't have any lunch, so I decided to stop in to a pub near my hotel, have a cider and a bag of crisps. I was about two thirds of the way through my pint when five guys walked in. It turns out this is the regular Monday night at the pub.

Let's just leave it at four hours and five pints later I have new friends and a new favorite beer, Doom Bar. It is spectacular.

Now it is 8:30 and I need dinner.  This is a small fish and chips.