Arlington Row, Cotswolds, with tourists

This wasn't the picture I'd intended to blip, but when I saw it, I thought it was more honest than most of the familiar jigsaw-puzzle / chocolate box images of the Cotswolds.

The village of Bibury is famous for its historic buildings: a couple of old mills, and Arlingtow Row, which is supposedly the oldest row of cottages in England! Quite how anyone knows that is a mystery to me. But there they stand, close to the pretty swan-studded river Churn, and here come the coaches, straight from Oxford or Heathrow Airport, filled with Japanese or Chinese tourists! For such a small village, the power of the overseas pound must be immense. Let's hope the tourists never stop coming. Certainly what they are seeing is about as typical of life in Britain as, say, a trip to Buckingham Palace, but who said anything about real or gritty? We go on holiday to admire the scenery or culture, while recharging our batteries. Some of us also go to sample the local cuisine. In Bibury, this is trout from the local trout farm (you can even catch it yourself) and cream teas.

We were there as tourists ourselves, with our friend Una. After a massive Sunday lunch in a pub in Sapperton, we braved the rain to get back in the car. and drove to Bibury, where the sun obligingly came out. We wandered around the village, taking photos of other tourists taking photos, and then sloped off for a cup of tea in a charming tea shoppe, the type with low ceilings and mismatched vintage china. Steve and Una had traditional cakes/scones, but mine cake was basically a slab of 'Bibury chocolate'. Who knew?

I have to add that I struggled, in the gift shop, with Not Buying Notelets. I must never become my mother, not in the sense of notelet-hoarding, but I can see all too clearly how this distressing habit begins. One gift shop purchase leads to another, and before you know it you're renting storage space at £100 per month to house your extensive collection of stationery.

I didn't buy any fudge, soap or tea towels either. Just saying.