Kings Stanley to Wotton-Under-Edge: 22/4/23

 Our hosts thought it would be nice to have their two guests seated across from each other at breakfast, so I had some awkward conversation with an English woman who clearly didn't give a hoot. The hosts themselves were very nice, though. I started the day with a walk to the other side of the village -- or the next village; they don't seem very sure about where their villages begin and end here -- to the cheese vending machine at Godsells farm. This was apparently set up during COVID as a contact-free way to sell their products, and includes a refrigerated milk dispenser. Not cheap, but novel. So I bought some wrapped Gloucester and walked back through the village/s to the car.

Next stop was Selsey Common, on top of a plateau. This is the broad open space that I drove through yesterday. It takes in various archaelological sites and burial mounds, but is bisected by a fairly busy road. There is a gliding school nearby, and a glider was swooping overhead, and dropping parachuted payloads -- presumably for target practice -- as I looked over the edge into a bowl of clouds. A helpful sign told me what I would have been seeing, had I been able to see any of it.

I walked around a little -- lots of other people here, usually with dogs -- and drove a short distance to Woodchester mansion and park. I had thought this would be closed, but I had forgotten that today was Saturday. The park is the usual woodland, very pretty but slightly muddy, and the house itself is particularly interesting as it was abandoned during construction in the 1800s, so you can see the interiors -- bare walls and cross-beams and arch structures -- ready for plastering and painting that never happened. It has a kind of Hogwarts feel to it. The house was in a damp spot and the owner ran out of money, possibly because he made large donations to the Catholic Church, so I didn't feel too much sympathy for him. The cafe there was rudimentary, but eventually they were able to make me a latte and provide a piece of carrot cake for elevenses.

Back to the road and south past what Google Maps describes as a 'historic' British Telecom tower, although what was historic about it I couldn't see. Google Maps tells me that it was built in 1964, and is one of the few towers built of reinforced concrete, which I suppose makes it pretty exciting if you are into that sort of thing. I would have stopped to look if I had seen a parking space on the narrow road, but instead I went on to Newark Park.

This is another stately home, built in Tudor times by Nicholas Poinz as a hunting lodge and then added to over time, giving it some rather weird features, like windows behind wardrobe doors. It was restored in the 20th century by an American architect who lived here with his male companion, and has the usual assortment of furniture and fittings from various occupants. With the rain holding off, I took a longish walk through the grounds. Got back about three and headed for my accommodation at The Swan in Wotton-Under-Edge; a real hotel with real heating. I had planned to go out and explore, but the room was so cosy and the outside so bleak and wet that I couldn't manage it. Luckily I had enough for a scratch dinner, and plenty of milk for tea and coffee.

There doesn't seem to be very much on the way tomorrow, and rain is predicted for the afternoon, but there is a station near Old Sodbury that might give me an opportunity to visit Gloucester and the Waterways Museum.