One-day trip to the Cotswolds Hills and to the lavender field.
Chesterton Windmill – what a mill…
The Chesterton Windmill is located in the middle of nowhere ‘alfresco’. Although the mill is visible from the distance, it is not very clear where to park the car and which way to go. You can leave your car on the main street – Chesterton Road, and turn into the side road ‘Windmill Hill Ln’ that leads to the farms. In both ways, you need to go through the field trampled down path.
The mill is surrounded by the mellow, odoriferous ear of grain – a fairy-tale view.
If I have not been there in person and if someone would give me the photos of this place I would not have believed that this place is in England. It was almost like home, everything because the hot weather in UK. This year it was so warm that even the nettles was not fully growing up and were just fading.
Chipping Campden
I often hear that England is ugly, but it is enough to move you’re a… from the sofa and get to know the country better. Within a few miles you can find really nice places.
One of the examples is the Chipping Campden, we came to this city just by coincidence – we were passing through it with friends to get to the lavender field. The main street impressed us that much so we decided to stop there for a while and then go for a walk. Maybe there is nothing specific there, but for me it seems that this indiscrete buildings creates the unique atmosphere of this city.
Cotswold Lavender
The main point of our trip – was a lavender field on the Cotswold Hills.
I have never been in such a place and I would rather do not go there myself, but I was offered a trip, I was not thinking twice if I should go.
A big number of tourists and you have to work hard to take a selfie without anyone in the background :D.
Lavender like lavender – was smelling nicely. I liked the place with the wild flowers the most. Have a meadow like that in front of the house – a dream :). It is worth visiting such a field in the season – visual and fragrance experiences guaranteed.
Lavender distillation process
The steam from the boiler goes through pipes to the second tank, which is a hermetically sealed trailer filled with the previously cut lavender. The vapor releases essential oils and passes through the pipes to the radiator, where the cooling and condensing process take place. Anyone who has tried to‘distille something’ at least once in a lifetime for sure have been eagerly waiting for the process of liquefaction to start :D.
The cooled liquid passes into the fourth container, in which the essential oil is separated from the lavender’s hydrosol (the flower water).
The extracted essential oil is used for practically everything: from cosmetics (perfumes, soaps), to household chemicals (air fresheners) and food products (ice cream, chocolate).
In the shop located just opposite you can buy various products made of lavender that was grown on the nearby located fields. Please be aware that the queue to the cash register may be long.
Entry ticket to the lavender field was £5 for an adult.
Bourton on the water – Venice Cotswolds
Another interesting city. As the part of the name may indicate: „on the water” the city is located near the water, and it is actually crossed by the Windrush River. Both sides are crossed by the numerous bridges, thus the village is called as the Venice of the Cotswolds. The city has its charm, that cannot be even taken form the crowds of the tourists.
In addition of drinking paint of Guinness and soaking your feet in the river, you can sightseeing.
Examples of the attractions:
- Birdland – a garden where 500 species of birds can be found. Entry: adults £9.95, children £6.95.
- Cotswold Motor Museum – we can find there old cars, motorcycles and toys (toy cars, planes, etc.). Entry: adults £5.40, children £3.80.
- Cotswold Perfumery – it is also a shop with perfumes and a studio. Entry to the store is for free. A perfume creation course can be pre-booked there. One day training of perfumes creation costs £245 – it could be an interesting thing but it’s quite a lot of money, I think.
- Dragonfly Maze – hedge maze. Maybe it’s not a big object, but you can get lost in it.
Cotswold Water Park
The last point of the trip was a barbecue by the water in the Costwold water park. Similarly he lake from the previous post about the Zip Line, the water park was created after flooding the old mine – to the delight of the inhabitants of the region.
Some Arek, did not appreciate the natural tank of water (I mean the Wigry lake obviously), which he had under his nose every day since he was born, and now enjoys the sight of every swampy pond where swimming is not forbidden :D.