Having Tom’s parents staying with us for a couple of weeks seemed the perfect excuse for an early summer holiday this year. And after our last family holiday (which also happened to be our first B&B with a baby), and to keep costs down, self-catering was an easy choice.
As far as location was concerned, I was keen to pick somewhere that didn’t require too much of a drive. Which made me think of the Cotswolds, which we’ve heard lots about, never been to, and is conveniently situated a couple of hours drive away.
“The Cotswolds” turns out to be area defined by the Cotswold hills — a region that is widely regarded for its natural beauty and the many villages constructed from the golden Cotswold stones.
By the time we had finalised our mutual availability for a week away, the selection of suitable holiday accommodation was diminishing, but fortunately, one showed up that lined up with all the criteria and the booking was finalised.
Thus Angel Cottage, in the little village of Halford, became our home from home for 5 days in late June, and it turned out to be a fortuitous choice.
Unlike other self-catering accommodation we’ve been in, this cottage had no inventory to speak of. Just a polite little note pointing out that the place is also used by the owners part of the year, so please be nice to the contents, or words to that effect. What a pleasant change from boring lists of cutlery, crockery and linen – not to mention the fact that the kitchen was stocked with Every implement you could possibly think of (and quite a few more that we actually couldn’t identify). 
On top of all that, the cottage itself came complete with the authentic look and feel of a country home (cottage garden, thick wooden beams), and all the necessary 20th century plumbing and conveniences to make it comfortable.
As far as exploring went, we weren’t overly ambitious – although a bit more advance reading might have spurred me on a bit more if I’d found time for it.
One of our more spontaneous excursions was a strawberry-picking trip; inspired by signs that we found on the side of the road, which led us on a merry chase through country lanes till we tracked down the farm in question.
Aside from learning a lot about different strawberry varieties, and judicious sampling as we went along (they tasted SO much better than the supermarket ones), we picked about 4 punnets of beautifully red and ripe strawberries between us, and enjoyed them over the next several days.
Our closest big town was Stratford-upon-Avon, which I found somewhat overdone in terms of Shakespeare references. One of the big tourist attractions there (after the house Shakespeare was born in) is Anne Hathaway’s cottage, but on our trip to see it, we arrived after it had closed for the day. Ah well. A late afternoon’s walk alongside the river Avon was a pleasing alternative.
As an opportunity to do something completely different, we spent a day with some friends of Tom’s parents (they go way back) who live in a village not too far from Halford. They treated us to lunch, and fascinated young Jon with the tame ferrets that they keep in their back garden!
For the rest of the time, we explored our local village of Halford, itself quite attractive, as well as several other pretty little villages and towns in the vicinity. (And an excellent farm stall.)
We also made a point of trying out quite a few of the pubs in the wider area (surprisingly few of which offered high chairs), and spent the long, lazy summer evenings (after Jon’s bedtime) in the airy comfort of the large conservatory at the back of the cottage, reading until the daylight faded around half-nine.
Overall, it was a lovely relaxing holiday, and I’d heartily recommend the cottage to anyone who had plans to stay in that area. The complete photo album from the trip can be found here.
Jon had lots of fun in the huge sandpit area, and – as predicted – really enjoyed the picnic and his birthday cake. (Home-made this year, I should add!)