After a warm night we awoke
to a strangely cloudy looking day. We decided it must be because we weren’t far
away from the sea. Sometimes the weather conditions here are unusual.
We had to hurry with
breakfast as the car had to be out of the multi-story car park by 9am so as not
to incur further charges...
We picked the car up and
headed off to the city to check out the township and the magnificent Gloucester
Cathedral.
As it happened the Cathedral
was closed until 11.45am so Lyn was very happy that we could do the shops
first. Our first port of call was the Costa coffee shop.
At 11.45 we went in
to the Cathedral and marveled at the architecture. The stained glass windows
were stunning. As is not unusual with these buildings, it was undergoing a
significant refurbishment by several stone masons.
We then decided to visit The
Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens near Burford in Oxfordshire which was about
30 miles away. Unfortunately we encountered a roundabout with 6 exits and took
the wrong one which sent us off down the M5 which took quite some time and
quite a few extra miles to recover from.
After what seemed like an eternity,
we eventually arrived at the park and paid our £9.50 entry fee.
The grounds and gardens which
were immaculately maintained are part of the Bradwell Grove estate. The manor house
at Bradwell Grove dates from 1804 and many of the magnificent mature trees in
the park were planted in the 19th century.
John Heyworth inherited the
house and 3,000 acre estate from his grandfather in 1948 but due to crippling
death duties he had to lease out the house and grounds to the local health
board. By the time he was able to get the property back in 1969, the whole
place had fallen into disrepair and the garden had become completely overgrown.
In 1970, after a great deal
of work, John Heyworth, opened the gardens and animal exhibits to the public
with 230 animals from 40 species exhibited. He died in November 2012.
We were amazed to find the
variety of animals, birds and invertebrates in the English countryside. In fact
the lady at the information centre in Gloucester
said there were no lions at the park when in fact there is a pair of
magnificent Asiatic Lions.
After a great visit and an
ice cream at the café, we headed home making sure we got the correct exits at
the roundabouts.
Gloucester Cathedral
Lyn talking to our son via Whatsapp
Zebra with Bradwell Grove, a Gothic Manor, in the background.
Great Indian Hornbill. This was a seriously mean looking bird.
Asiatic lion. His mate was asleep behind him
A Wolverine
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