Vancouver, Canada to Moreton-in Marsh, England ……and a “rest” day

May 12/13, 2024

Today/tomorrow is/will be a long travel day. First, we are taking a B.C. Ferry from Sechelt, B.C. to Vancouver, then an overnight flight to London, England …Heathrow Airport followed by a combination of trains to Moreton-in Marsh >>> Hopefully, all will go well!!! We are super excited !!!

Why would anyone want to go to Moreton? Well, this is a town in the Cotswolds; an area we have wanted to walk in for many years. Located in central South West England it is renowned for its wealth of picturesque villages, each with its own unique character and architectural splendor. Visitors are captivated by the quintessential English charm of towns like Bourton-on-the-Water, Chipping Camden, and Stow-on-the-Wold, where time seems to stand still… as usual, it is a DIY trip. We have planned a 7-day walk through the countryside and towns of this area, staying at Inns and B&B’s with our luggage transferred each day between our accommodations. For those readers who have watched the series, Downton Abbey you already have a sense of where our travels will take us, albeit not where we will be staying.

Before heading to the airport we had a good feed of dim sum with our daughter Ella and our grandson Alex, in Richmond, at the Continental Seafood Restaurant which one and all quite enjoyed:

When we flew to Mexico on our last trip we transited through Toronto, hence a domestic flight, so we missed our traditional talisman for a safe journey…..today we are flying directly to London so a stop at Bill Reid’s The Spirit of Haida Gwaii, or the Jade Canoe (as it is generally called) …is in order:

Our Lufthansa flight (actually an Air Canada flight share coded with other airlines in the Star Alliance) leaves an hour late ….it was overbooked. As an aside they needed 5 “volunteers” to rebook and travel the next day > the quid pro quo was CAD 2,400 each >>> we were quite tempted!!! In any event, we have poor seats and feel bad for anyone 6 feet tall and over 200 lb, these seats are made for midgets, and as for the food (a rather charitable term) it was mostly inedible…thank god for the several glasses of economy-class wine…

In any event, we alighted at Heathrow Airport at 14:00, 30 minutes late, tired, jet-lagged but keen !!! We had budgeted 3 hours to connect to our train at 16:23 to allow for various potential delays. However, Immigration is super fast, as is Customs Control  > we simply walk through the nothing-to-declare lane and onwards to the luggage carousel which also cooperates and spits out our 2 suitcases in good order…a 15-minute walk to the Heathrow Express (a non-stop train to Paddington Station) and by 15:30 we are sharing a ham & cheese baguette whilst waiting for the platform for our train departure to be announced.

Our train to Moreton-in-Marsh departs at precisely 14:23, we then transfer in Oxford, arriving in Moreton at 18:05 …we had purchased our train tickets online (much cheaper than on the day of travel) scanned the phone at each entry and also by a cheery lady conductor, “thank you luv”, on the last portion to Moreton. Once beyond London, the countryside became quite pretty and very green, cows, sheep, hawks, herons and deer, as well as villages, flew by with even some sun accompanying us!

The station is a 5-minute walk from our accommodations > Martha’s Coffee House where we will stay 2 nights.

Check-in is easy via a lock box containing keys to the Coffee House and the one room they rent out.

After settling in we walked the High Street to clear some of the cobwebs…

Moreton-in-Marsh was first settled circa 570 AD and developed into an important market town over time. The town’s economy thrived, thanks to wool and cloth-making in the medieval era which is why there are so many elegant 18th century inns and houses on High Street…

We were not up for a sit-down meal so we opted for takeout fish & chips from the Mermaid Fish Bar…

… quite popular with the locals many of whom were still in their Wellingtons, fresh from the surrounding fields, one of whom even ordered for me…” heel ave the cod & chips with mushy peas”. We then bought a bottle of  Sauvignon Blanc from the nearby Tesco Express and retired to the coffee shop where we commandeered a table and happily consumed all of the above.

That was it for the day and we called it a night…a hard day but we were glad it all went well.

May 14, 2024

We both had a less-than-perfect night of sleep but it was to be expected as jet lag always beats us up, which is why we are taking an extra day in Moreton. Hopefully, we will be well along in getting our biorhythms in sync tomorrow. Unfortunately, Martha’s Cafe was closed for breakfast but we found a nearby cafe with coffee and tasty cinnamon buns to get our engines running. We are not quite up to par and decided to do a short “shakedown” walk to the Batsford Arboretum a pleasant back-and-forth walk through open fields …

where we also found the Batsford Falconery >>> we just missed the show so just poked our heads in and looked around…a very nice facility…we then reversed field and headed back…

Returning to Moreton we were a bit tired though happy we went out, got some air and stretched our legs. Dinner tonight was at the Black Bear Pub a rather unpretentious old-school pub:

… serving some tasty and rather huge portions…the service was pleasant albeit rushed (full-house) and the patrons mostly elders and their 4-legged friends were very much enjoying the grub, drinks and company! 

Beef and ale puff pastry with veggies & new potatoes

Ploughman’s plate

After this rather filling repast we wandered over to the COOP (very well laid out store) and picked up a bottle of Rioja to top off a lovely evening weather-wise and otherwise. Hopefully, we will get a solid night’s rest as the walking starts in earnest tomorrow.