We both absolutely love the Cotswolds and we often dream about moving there when we are older. I imagine (probably wrongly!) that life there would be move straight forward, revolving around dog walks, wellington boots and Sunday lunches. I’m sure that’s far from the truth – everyone has to work after all – but a girl can dream.
As part two of our fantastic September getaway last summer we stayed at The Wild Rabbit near Kingham. The Wild Rabbit is actually owned by Lady Bamford who owns Daylesford. It’s got an incredibly similar feel – a sort of homey kind of luxury.
Anyway, before we made our way to The Wild Rabbit we made a stop off at the lovely Burford. Having first visited a couple of years ago I was absolutely obsessed with the garden centre there {Burford Garden Company}. When I say it’s a garden centre that’s just the start. It’s an absolute haven for anyone like me that loves all things interiors, art, flowers, garden, vintage, reclaim and food. So basically anyone with taste! It’s also a great place to shop for present ideas for Christmas and things. You can easily spend a couple of hours there…
Despite our trip being in the middle of a heatwave Burford Garden Company was gearing up for Autumn and had this amazing display of pumpkins and gourds. It was the first place I saw selling the white baby boo pumpkins (and quite reasonably priced) so obviously a couple of those jumped into my bag along with a few bags of bulbs for us and my mum. It was weird thinking about winter when the weather was so beautiful but, as we all know, the seasons can change in the blink of an eye.
As I said, we’ve visited Burford before and I highly recommend a trip if you’re nearby or on your way through. It’s a lovely quaint village with some of the most beautiful houses made from Cotswold stone. There’s a large car park at the bottom of hill and essentially the whole village is centred around one main high street {although the garden centre is a 5 minute drive away}. There are lots of beautiful shops full of homey bits and pieces {and Christmas decorations which I may or may not have purchased – yes, yes I know it was only September but when you see a bargain…} so we tend to just walk up one side of the street and down the other back to the car. One thing I had missed on our previous visits was this gorgeous house with the pink door. It didn’t take too much tracking down. Anyone that knows me knows I have a thing with pink. She’s so pretty…
After a potter around Burford we were getting hungry so made our way to Daylesford farm for some lunch. If you’ve never been to Daylesford then you are in for a treat. I had only ever been to the London shops before and, although they are beautiful, this is something else. It’s an entire farm complete with two restaurants, shops serving the most amazing fresh produce, a beautiful florist and a spa. We went to the restaurant for lunch where I had a lovely large salad and the TGH opted for a macaroni cheese – both delicious. We then went for a walk around the farm, only getting a bit lost!
After our stroll around the Daylesford farm it was time for us to go check in to our room at The Wild Rabbit, the Fox. Apparently Lady Bamford has spent over £1million refurbishing the B&B {if you can really call it that with a now Michelin star award winning restaurant} and you can really tell. Everything is so beautifully finished and just perfect. As it was such a lovely day we had a drink outside the front of the pub and then went for a wander around Kingham village just as the sun was starting to dip in the sky – *cue glowing Cotswold stone cottages*
There are so many amazing villages and places to visit when you’re in the Cotswolds. One of my favourite villages is Bibury which includes Arlington Row and also some of the most beautiful cottages. I’ve included a photo of my favourite one here but it was a tough decision! Bibury also has a lovely little shop on the river serving homemade cakes. I highly recommend it if you’re in the area. There’s something very old-fashioned about it, especially for two people coming from London.
We also made a visit to Cirencester. We had been before but only for a really quick tour when we were visiting some family. When I was looking up things to do in Cirencester the place that kept coming up was the little waffle place “He says she waffles” and, now having been, I can see why. I opted for the S’more waffle – topped with two types of chocolate and mini marshmallows heated in the oven to a melted heaven! There wasn’t a chance I could finish it but, luckily for him, TGH had some space!
We needed to burn off some of the waffle calories so, given the incredible weather, we headed to Cirencester Park for a waddle wander. Despite our good intentions, we promptly found a spot to sit and people watch from behind our sunglasses. Pregnant woman’s prerogative 😉
After dinner on our last night we sat outside the restaurant at The Wild Rabbit. It was such a warm evening and so still and quiet, staring up at the stars. I know we were on holiday but it had this amazing sense of being on holiday outside the UK. That was probably largely due to the incredible weather we had but there was something about the wicker and whitewashed furniture…
We awoke on our final morning to beautiful blue skies and threw open the windows to see the sun shining through the large union jack that stands proud outside the B&B.
Given the glorious weather we decided to get one last walk in before we headed back to London and hustle and bustle of our everyday commute. The helpful staff at reception at The Wild Rabbit told us that there was a back way to Daylesford so, having turned down the offer of some wellies for the journey (seriously there had been no rain for days) and instructions in hand, we headed to Daylesford through the fields. It was such a beautiful walk, and we probably saw a maximum of 5 people and 3 dogs the whole 40 minute walk there. We probably shouldn’t have turned down the wellies in the end but where’s the fun in that! The only things to make us realise that Autumn was around the corner were the fields being harvested and the berries in the hedgerow.
A well earned hot chocolate at Daylesford followed by the quick route back to The Wild Rabbit (via the main road) and back to the car for the trip to London. We had such an incredible week both at The Pig near Bath and then here at The Wild Rabbit. Some serious interiors inspo at both places. If only we could recreate that in our home…
I’ve been so long finalising this post that we are actually due to go back to the Cotswolds in a few weeks’ time and I just can’t wait. It will be mid October when we go so I’m thinking it will feel rather autumnal by then. I’ve heard that there have been some changes at Daylesford including an expansion of the Garden Room with all the flowers (my favourite) so I’m looking forward to that. Looking back at these photos I can’t help but think that you really can’t beat England in the sunshine.
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