A few photos from a day in the English countryside in summer this year. While I love travelling to other countries, I also want to explore more of Britain so we have been taking day trips with friends, all within about an hour or two of London, over the last few months. For this day trip we headed to Oxfordshire to the pretty little village of Goring-on-Thames for coffee* and a look at how the lock operates before getting drenched (hellloooo English summer weather!) and scurrying back to the car.
Back in the car for another 20 mins, through winding back roads and we had arrived at our lunch destination in Berkshire, The Pot Kiln. We didn't have a booking (the restaurant was full) so braved the mizzle and sat in the garden on bench seats. A bottle of champagne, ploughman's lunches, venison rolls, a frolic with the cows** and clearing weather later, we had full tummies and were declaring that we simply must all move to the country ;)
*Try Pierreponts a sweet little cafe beside the lock/bridge. We only had coffee but the homemade sweet treats looked delicious.
**maybe not so much a frolic as a "Oooo look at the lovely cows. Oh wow, they seem to be moving in closer. Sh*t. Press the bluddy shutter button and walk.away.slooooowly!" I had a bit of a bad experience with a young bull a couple of years ago (I blogged about it waaaaay back) so I am a bit weary of advancing cows now, as much as I think they are beautiful.
p.s. The barbie in the last photo? We had that when we got home :)
beautiful photos
ReplyDeleteThis looks so beautiful! I love seeing photos from your travels (even if they are in England and just a couple hours away from home). It looks gorgeous Vanessa. It makes me want to hijack one of your lovely trips and come along with you!
ReplyDeletep.s. those two cows definitely look like they're ready to stampede right in your direction.
wow this looks so incredible. I'm insanely jealous.
ReplyDeleteFashionable Collections
Gorgeous gorgeous photos. I love when you do daily life photos!
ReplyDeleteThis is so beautiful! I absolutely love the English countryside :)
ReplyDeleteYour photos kind of make me feel sick they are so good! x
ReplyDeleteIsn't the English countryside the best? There is nowhere else on earth I love more.
ReplyDelete@everyone- thank you! It is a lot of fun documenting my travels whether they be in the UK or abroad.
ReplyDelete@style crusader- yeah! They were all (there were other cows just out of shot) coming in a bit fast for my liking ;) We just went to Norfolk for the weekend and it was superb- such beautiful countryside and we got to see lots of seal pups! Amazing. Just hated the traffic coming back into london....pretty nightmarish.
@Manja and @Will- it is pretty special :)
Love these photographs...would love to spend a Christmas in the English countryside.
ReplyDeletexxx DJ
ps too funny about the cows, they are very curious.
I used to live and work at The Pot Kiln, nice to hear it mentioned on here. I was the bar food chef as well!
ReplyDeleteI used to live and work at The Pot Kiln, nice to hear it mentioned on here. I was the bar food chef as well!
ReplyDelete@Jessica- that is so cool!! So you would know the Sassy the dog??!!! We saw her (she seemed quite mischievous for a hunting dog!) but I didn't ask if I could take a photo.
ReplyDeleteSo where do you work now???!!! Any recommendations for country pubs in the UK? We visited Norfolk on the weekend and had a kick-arse meal at The Duck Inn....
Oh Vanessa, this post is so wonderfully evocative of the beautiful stillness of the English countryside! Am making a mental note to visit Goring-on-Thames myself!
ReplyDeleteBriony xx
@briony- you must go! It is really beautiful and such a lovely place for a cup of tea or lunch. Last weekend we went to the Norfolk Broads (and saw the seal pups on the beach) which was magical as well!
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