Camping in the Cotswolds -Sunday and Monday

 

After a quick dash to buy some groundsheets to cover the rather leaky tent we headed off to the Cotswold Wildlife Park near Burford. The tickets had been pre-booked but luckily there was no allocated time. Dogs are allowed in the park but not indoors. It is only a small park but there is still plenty to see. It was originally a manor house and private gardens but became the Wildlife Park and gardens in 1969.

 

My favourite animal is the Red Panda, so I was very happy to find that the park had one and that it was out and about. I practically ran to the enclosure which caused great merriment to the others. I could have quite happily spent hours watching it groom itself and move around the trees, but the others wanted to move on.

The Wildlife Park is near a small town called Burford which attracts lots of visitors. We went there after visiting the park to get something to eat as there were a few dog friendly places to choose from. Unfortunately, the one we chose wasn’t particularly very good despite the reviews. We were not overly hungry so when they said it would be an hour before we could order food then then we didn’t have a problem. We ordered drinks and sat in the beer garden playing Headz on the phone. Once the food was ordered it was then another hour and twenty minutes before it arrived. The excuse being was that they were busy with pre-bookings but unless they did take away the place was not busy at all. The food was only average in terms of taste and quality and we thought it was overpriced for what it was. It is a place I would not go back to or recommend.

 Monday brought about a change of plan.  An old injury of Craigs’ had flared up and required a visit to a walk in centre to get some anti-inflammatories/pain killers. As we had ended up going in two cars I took the kids and Penny to Cotswold Lavender so Emma could practice her photography skills with Penny as her model (as usual). The smell was wonderful and you could purchase all kinds of things using lavender. I became a little peckish whilst I was there so bought a cream tea with a lavender scone. The lavender taste was there but only delicately and wasn’t overpowering in any way.

Craig had let us know how long he would be and we knew that we would be finished by the time he got to us so we met him in the car park and then drove to Moreton-in-the-Marsh which is one of the bigger towns in the area. Like most towns the high street is the main place to see. There were lots of independent shops and a few tea rooms so we grabbed a late lunch after walking around then drove to the nearby Aldi as this was the first chance we had had to really buy food for meals.

As most places were closing we headed back to the campsite where we played with Penny and then watched a film that Craig had put onto his tablet which has a built in projector.

 

Penny was rather unsettled overnight and even managed to get out of the tent as Craig had not fully closed the bedroom area. I heard her go out and we spent about 10 frantic minutes trying to find her before she came back to the tent of her own accord. We think she just needed to toilet as she woke us up a few more times needing to go out. She had a bit of an upset stomach.