The drive up to Ross wasn’t particularly picturesque as most of it was on main roads and highways. Once past Gloucester, it became a bit more hilly and we drove through farmlands and little villages. What was interesting was how the architecture was so different to the Cotswolds. As the last few days all we’ve seen are the golden Cotswold stone buildings in village after village.
I was expecting Ross to be flat, but the town was hilly. Reece said it reminded him of the hills in San Francisco. It is an interesting town. Very busy with people everywhere and lots of cars. We found a short term parking lot and walked back uphill into the centre of town. Everywhere are signs for a Jonathan Preece, the local estate agent!
In the middle of the town stands the market building. Centuries ago, it was built for the people to trade their goods- mainly wool. I have to admit I was disappointed to see it filled with a market selling cheap Chinese clothing and other rubbish.
It’s almost as if Ross has been neglected a bit. No one pays too much attention to preserving the quaint old buildings. Many are quite derelict and the town in general needs to be neatened up. Perhaps I was expecting more and we have been used to the perfect little villages and towns of the Cotswolds, many of which have hardly any modern signage at all.
We were so glad we went though as we could send some photos to dad and I could finally see the town he has spoken of for so long!
We left Ross and travelled a different route back to the Cotswolds via Stow-on-the-Wold. Such a pretty route back through the tiniest unspoiled villages that you missed if you blinked once! stow is a larger village but so pretty. It’s filled with gorgeous quaint shops (albeit very tourist orientated and expensive), but such a lovely place to wander around.
We had a quick lunch in a small tea room. I had. Ploughmans platter, Reece and Shannon had sandwiches and Leon had soup. We had coffee and mochas and Reece had a double size “snowman” milkshake that cost R109! Without a doubt food is terribly expensive! Even the supermarkets aren’t cheap. Dr Oetker pizzas cost around R80 in the supermarket, for example.
At around 3.30 we left Stow which was a 30min drive from our village. Right outside our village we stumbled across a classic car shop in old RAF barns. They sell classic cars ranging from an old Rolls Silver Ghost to 1940s Jags and Porsche’s from 1980’s, Ferrari’s, Lamborghinis and even an old VW Combi in perfect condition. The one Porsche was selling for over GBP300 0000 - R6 million. Leon and Reece loved this!
We relaxed a bit at our cottage before heading back to the Catherine Wheel pub in Bibury for dinner.
We’ve thoroughly enjoyed the Cotswolds but we are looking forward to visiting Chester tomorrow. We plan on heading out at around 8h30 or 9am.
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