A winter’s day in Bibury, Cotswolds

I discovered yesterday that I think William Morris was right when he declared the quintessential Cotswolds village of Bibury to be the most beautiful in England. This supremely photogenic place is the perfect setting for a walk and photography session on a crisp winter’s day. I met up with my dad and we had fun walking around the village photographing its wealth of quaint cottages and other English village scenes.

The other side of the river from the road is a water meadow, home to numerous species of flora and fauna.

This row of houses is called Arlington Row. This line of 17th century weavers’ cottages was converted from a wool store built in 1380.

As you can see, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. This made photography quite a challenge, as the light levels were a bit much for my iPhone 5S to handle!

We had lunch at the Catherine Wheel, which is towards the top of the hill on the way out past the trout farm.

It was a traditional cosy English pub, with a restaurant serving the sort of dishes you’d expect for such an establishment, of a standard somewhere between pub grub and gastropub.

Pa had a steak and ale pie…

…and I had a posh macaroni cheese, which used smoked cheddar and sun-dried tomatoes. Yum!

More walking after lunch. I loved seeing the smoke rising from the chimneys of all these gorgeous cottages.

The Saxon church, St Mary’s, has an unusual claim to fame: it was featured on a Royal Mail stamp in 1992!

Peeking out behind the trees is a dovecote which, according to its Grade II listing information, dates from the 17th century.

More information about visiting Bibury is available here from the National Trust. Winter seemed a good time to visit, because although there were a few tourists floating around (a coach-load of them at the pub), it’s much quieter than I can imagine it would be in summer. Go on a beautiful blue-sky winter’s day and enjoy a warming drink by the fire at the Catherine Wheel after exploring the village.