Kiwi Roaming

Back from London for a night to do some washing and we headed off for a long weekend with our hosts. Paul had booked us a cottage in the picture postcard village of Nunney which is close to Bath. We went on Thursday after both Karen and Paul got back from work, I cooked us all a quick dinner of nachos to clean up veggies in the fridge so we left for the nearly 3 hour drive quite late getting there close to midnight.

Very importantly Steve and I had walked to Milton Keynes central shops to buy ourselves some Christmas PJ’s so we could fit in when lounging around over the weekend. Mine have foxes on them and Steve’s gingerbread men. I think Karen was disappointed we didn’t get any to match both of theirs tbh.

Nunney – is a tiny village, there is a wee store, a cafe, a pub, a castle and a couple of churches – one of which is now used as a hall. Our cottage was part of an old stables which is now a terrace of cottages. At the end of the row is a one room tiny historic jailhouse. To the back is a creek which really filled up on the first day we were there after a very decent downpour overnight.

The cottage is 3 storied with a new single story annex out the back which consists of the kitchen and bathroom. Each floor of the cottage is one room joined by the tightest spiral staircase you can imagine which is so steep. Steve and I took the top floor because it had a single toilet room and two doubles. Paul and Karen took the middle floor with a king sized bed and loads of storage. It was so very very cute with beams and stone features.

On the first morning Steve and I took a quick village wander to see the sites and buy eggs and bacon for breakfast to go with the yummy sourdough Karen had bought. The village is small but oh so cute. The castle has been long abandoned and the moat bridge closed off to the public with a deep moat inhabited by ducks and geese. One of the churches is still in use but the other one has no roof on the back part and the front is now used as a hall. Our plan was to spend the Friday at the Christmas markets but it was raining and Karen’s birthday, so we went shopping in Frome (the next town), played games, ate far too many yummy Christmas treats and watched Christmas movies, all while I taught Paul to knit and started my own crochet project. A lazy but fun birthday day.

Bath – the Christmas markets in Bath are extensive, taking up the whole town, they had an excellent park and ride system in place which channeled everyone to a massive carpark on the outskirts of town and brought us in via double decker buses which flowed constantly. We got to sit up top right at the front on the way into Bath so got a lovely sense for the town.

The markets were organised into two rows of little chalets opposite each other on a road so everyone walked down the middle in between them – multiply this by about 20 sets of stalls on every street in the centre of the town. I think we went to about half a dozen long rows of stalls and each set seemed to repeat the same kinds of stores – not that we could ever get close enough to look at much. Candles, Christmas decorations, chocolates, pet treats, glass things, gin, British wines and foods you could consume as you walked around – mulled wine, hot chocolate, various Christmas treats.

Kim had sent me a list of things to check out and do in Bath but it was basically impossible, everything was booked out and there were just so many people there. We decided to take a walk out of the centre to find somewhere for lunch and were pleasantly surprised to find a huge cafe / restaurant place called the Boston Tea Party with a great menu and a free table for us.

Late lunch over we went for a wander and spotted a few Bridgerton filming locations. There were people everywhere until we walked alongside the river before looping back to a store called Morrisons for dinner food and hopping back on the bus.

Castle Combe – is a picture postcard village where no new building has happened since the 1600s. We packed up on the Sunday morning and headed here for a wee look around. To get there we drove through the village up the hill towards Upper Castle Combe to the carpark which was well full already and we imagine a great earner for the town. The walk down is lovely past stone houses, some with thatched and others with slate roofs, all seeming to be holiday let accommodation. The village is so untouched other than the occasional For Sale signs and street blackboards there is nothing modern attached visibly – so no lockboxes or sky dishes which is awesome.

There are two pubs but we were there before midday so neither open yet. There is a large estate which has a hotel and gorgeous looking boutique cottage accommodation. By the time we got there the place was already full of tourists. Local women (I didn’t see any men so can make that comment) held a market in the hall behind the cute rows of cottages next to a small cafe which was doing a roaring trade of take away coffees. The stalls were mostly knitted and crocheted goods, baked goods and jewellery. The hall was packed so I do hope they sold plenty. There were also little cash only baked goods stalls throughout the village. My photos simply don’t do this place justice, it is so cute.

With a decent drive ahead of us we decided to defer lunch until mid afternoon but being Sunday the first pubs we tried were busy so we ended up very close to home at one of the three pubs near Paul and Karen’s place – the Barge. They have a whole Sunday lunch menu with different options, Paul and I had the trio – beef, turkey and pork – while Steve and Karen both had turkey. It was nice but for the price not stunning.

Home to pop our PJ’s back on and a game of Ticket to Ride – my now second favourite board game after Settlers. One last set of pics below from Bath.