The Cotswolds: Day 2

We started Day 2 of our short break with an hour or so exploring the town of Banbury. Our hotel was only a few yards from Banbury Cross, which I assumed was the cross mentioned in the nursery rhyme ("Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross ...") but apparently not - the rhyme dates back to the 18th century, and this cross was built in 1859 to commemorate the marriage of Queen Victoria's eldest daughter. 

We then headed south to the small town of Woodstock, near Oxford. Woodstock itself is very pretty, with lots of golden Cotswold stone. We wandered around in search of a light lunch and stumbled across the Oxfordshire Museum, where we had a quick look round the galleries before M had a sandwich in the cafe - they didn't have any sandwiches I fancied and I had seen a nice sandwich bar earlier so I waited and got a takeaway baguette there later. 

Woodstock is on the edge of the Duke of Marlborough's Blenheim estate. Tickets for Blenheim Palace itself are quite expensive and have to be booked in advance, but it is possible to explore some of the park without needing a ticket if you stick to public footpaths. We walked a five mile circular route through the park and the surrounding farm land, before ending up near the Palace where we made an unexpected discovery - the Whomping Willow!  

The tree used as the Whomping Willow in the early Harry Potter films was at Ashridge in Hertfordshire, but it blew down in a storm and was replaced for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with this hollow tree at Blenheim. From the tree there was a good view across the lake to the Palace. It is one of the largest stately homes in England, built by the Duke of Marlborough in the early 18th century when he was given land and money as a reward for his military victories (including the Battle of Blenheim, from which the Palace gets its name). Winston Churchill, who was a cousin of the Duke of Marlborough, was born at Blenheim, and visited frequently throughout his life; he is buried just outside the park in the churchyard at Bladon, a village near Woodstock. 

After our walk we sat outside a cafe near the Town Hall and had tea / coffee and cake. There may also have been an ice cream on the way back to the car. It took us about an hour to drive home, and we got back shortly after TG. She had had a good time with R, going on dog walks and doing lots of eating. They met up with H on Saturday morning and all went out for breakfast. It makes me so happy that our daughters all enjoy each other's company (it wasn't always that way when the older two were teenagers!)

This week has been a bit hectic, with things feeling a bit out of control. Some major issues have developed at work, with structural and management changes and a colleague handing in her notice. It shouldn't affect me personally too much, but means there is quite a lot of stress sloshing around in the office. Covid cases had increased significantly in our local area, with outbreaks in several schools and many children being sent home to self-isolate because they have been in contact with kids who have tested positive. Fortunately TG hasn't been affected (so far!), but has had to go back to wearing a mask in school, which isn't much fun for several hours a day - she was very relieved when they lifted the requirement after half term. There is only three weeks left before the summer break, so we are hoping she makes it through until then. The country as a whole now has a weird mix of high vaccination levels and exponentially increasing Covid cases. The vaccines are doing their job and hospitalisations and deaths are staying pretty low, but because younger people were left until last for vaccination the virus is spreading most among the under 30s. We really should be very close to herd immunity now (85% of adults have had at least one vaccine), so the hope is that the surge in cases will soon burn itself out. The official plan is still for all restrictions to be lifted on July 19th, after delaying the last stage of reopening for four weeks in June.