A Day in the Cotswolds

After Mike and I attended the training and the digital strategies conference in The Netherlands, we headed for the United Kingdom. (See our photos and videos from The Netherlands.) The next morning I led another rewarding day of tech training at Agape UK headquarters in Birmingham, England. (Agape is the name of Campus Crusade for Christ in Europe.)

After the training, our friend, Roger, gave us a tour of the impressive new central library downtown and then his parish church in Knowle, UK. Knowle Parish Church is more than 600 years old. In 1749, John Wesley preached in the church, but was kicked out; he finished his sermon across the street outside the Red Lion pub. See our photos (link below).

Our Day in the Cotswolds

Rather than head directly home from the training, we planned to stay four more days in England. Our “snow bird” neighbors in Orlando are from London and had offered many times for us to stay with them. So, the next morning, our friends picked us up at Roger’s for a day of driving through the Cotswolds… a real treat for us as we love exploring and taking photos! The Cotwolds is a mainly rural area of “Old England” with quaint and historic villages built from honey-colored limestone.

Almost as soon as we headed out, a Saxon church caught our eye, so we stopped to check out St. Peter’s in Wootton Wawen . It was built at least in the mid 9th century, if not before. The next stop was Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare’s hometown. We saw the outside of his birthplace and the inside of the Church of the Holy Trinity where he was baptized and buried. The church dates from 1210 (Shakespeare was born in 1546). We stopped next in Broadway for lunch at the Horse and Hound pub and headed out again.

We drove through many quaint villages and even saw Gypsies twice camped alongside the road with their caravans and horses! The weather cooled down as we stopped at a neolithic stone circle from the 4th through 2nd century BC near Long Compton, UK. The Kings Men Stone Circle is one of three ancient sites in the area.

We took lots of photos of the pictureseque thatched homes of Great Tew and Lower Slaughter. A slight drizzle set in as we approached Bourton-on-the-Water, but that only added to the British atmosphere. We’d filled our day so we drove past Oxford and headed to London where more adventures awaited us!

Our Photos and Videos from the Cotswolds

Click on over to our slideshow of the Cotswolds, with captions, so you can enjoy the trip with us.

I still have one more blog post to write with more photos and videos for the next four days, which included London and Windsor Castle.

NOTES:

• The photo on this page was taken outside a mill in Lower Slaughter, UK.
• Just in case you want to go… a map of the Cotswolds.
• You might be interested in a post on eQuipping for eMinistry about the conference and the two days of tech training. Mike and I felt this trip was even more than we expected, especially ministry-wise. We know this is because of your faithful prayers for us. Thank you so much!

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