Stay Home

It was a very warm morning on my campsite - I’m on a pitch with no morning shade. It was surprising how hot I was at 9am. I went on an hour’s walk, looping through Cirencester Park (mostly in the shaded wooded areas) before heading down to town.

As I was walking around town I saw a small group of people taking pictures of something on the ground. I asked them what they were interested in and this was their answer! A brightly painted brick with a message. Then someone else stopped to say they were more of these all over the town. I’d never noticed them before but now I’ll keep my eye open for them. Cirencester’s version of Banksy perhaps? I wonder if this is a new one done during lockdown? Obviously I’m not following its advice, though I AM still being very careful as I’m out and about!

I spent a lot of time in Cirencester Antiques which has a small frontage but is actually an Aladdin’s cave of treasures. I’d never been inside before so I was shocked how large it was! They didn’t have what I was looking for but I did buy a few very small treasures. I discovered that wearing a mask while shopping (which I totally support) is particularly stifling on a hot day. Maybe the extra warmth will feel better in the colder seasons!

See the Extra photo for some more views around town, including some in the antiques emporium. The middle picture of the rooftops was taken through the window on an upper floor of the shop.

The pink poodle was elsewhere in town and it obviously caught my eye, used as a door-stopper in a very ‘pink’ coffee shop.

The hare and the spools of brightly coloured wool were seen inside the lobby of a posh hotel and bar. The spools, I think, are a nod to Cirencester’s history as a wool town. The hare also has great significance for the town and this painted one was part of a ‘hare trail’, later auctioned off, and one of several that you can still see around town.

Thursday night is Pizza Night at the campsite. See second Extra photo. I’ve written about it before. This couple travel around to 4 different Cotswold campsites, pulling their pizza oven on a trailer. I always order one when I’m here and they are fabulous!! I’m visiting a couple more Cotswold campsites in the next few weeks so I hope I see them again!