Jul 19th - Bourton-on-the-Water to Shipton

 It was a bit of a big day today with the longest distance between stops so far, Bourton-on-the-Water and Shipton, and then having its fair share of ‘Up hill and down dale’ as well, we were both pretty stuffed when we got here. 

When writing about the landscape on our hikes the scenery doesn’t sound much like it’s changing, farmland, countryside, woodlands, and the occasional lake or waterways, but it really is surprising how different it can be as we move on further southward. 

At one point we found ourselves walking through an enormous country estate (stately home?) and discovered the local parish church.  Built in the 1100’s, this impressive ‘Norman’ style building also stands alongside the estate’s enormously large Jacobean manor house and we decided that this was the perfect place to have lunch. 

One of the outstanding features of the church is a wall painting depicting a skeleton. This skeleton is grasping an arrow in its right hand and standing on a coffin and, with a scythe at its feet, it has been suggested that this may be an early depiction of ‘Old Father Time’. 

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