The Cotswolds - Our 'Right to Roam' adventure to Bibury Village

 Great Britain has a wonderful tradition of the 'Right to Roam' which is a huge system of public right-of-ways. 

The most common are Public Footpaths and Public Bridal Ways. There are signs of various kinds and will lead you over walls and fences, through gates, around crop fields, through forests and many other places. There are maps and apps to use, or walkers just follow the signs. 

Here's some of the types of signs you see and some of the obstacles along some paths. 

This is call a 'Kissing Gate.' You step into the back area and then swing the gate to the other post and walk out the other side. They're very easy to use but ensure that livestock can't pass.

There's often not a gate to use, but a step over for wood and stone fences makes them easy to cross.

Marta and I took a LONG walk just following Public Footpaths signs, not knowing where we would end up. Walking on the edge of recently harvested fields resulted in us getting so much mud on the bottom and sides of our shoes that we had to stop and find sticks and flat stones to scrape the mud off. We walked through fields with sheep lounging under the trees and through woods. 

We finally came across a couple of other walkers and they told us which direction we could go to find the village of Bibury, which was over three miles from Coln St. Aldwyns. You can read a bit about the village at https://thirdeyetraveller.com/things-to-do-in-bibury-cotswolds/

We stopped and got a little something to drink and eat at The Swan Hotel.

Which had really great wall paper in the bathroom 

We then wandered around Bibury.

Marta on the famous Arlington Row

These two swans were majestically cruising down the water until I got my camera out and then they only wanted to eat.

And then -- we realized we still had to walk more than three miles to get back to Coln St. Aldwyns. On the way back we walked on the road. It was two lanes with no give on the sides but we only had about a dozen cars pass us on the way back.