After a full day and night of binging on food Chez Jeremy, it was time to set off to the southwest and the big town of Swallowcliffe.

I will be up front. I did not enjoy the drive. The roads started to get smaller and smaller on the drive down and our initial happiness at getting a larger car as an upgrade quickly moved to terror on the roads of southwest England. What follows was an absolute great day (except the driving).

Breakfast was offered down in the pub in the morning. They had the table set up for us and waiting, though our Daughter chose more sleep over breakfast. I went with the full english with no beans or black pudding. It was pretty good. I asked for my scrambled eggs to be well done and well, they were not. But they were still tasty. The coffee was in a press and was outstanding.



We decided to take one more quick walk around Stow on the Wold prior to leaving and this town really does not dissapoint.



This is the beautiful courtyard of the Stow Lodge Hotel. It did not look like a cheap place to stay.



It has a beautiful garden.





We started our drive and decided to stop enroute in Cirenchester. I am a huge fan of anything to do with Roman times after discovering the show Time Team from the UK. I hope to go on a dig as a volunteer next summer after finding out that is a possibility. I love the look of mosaics so that is really all I remembered to take pictures of.





Absolutely stunning and over 1800 years old.



They had a boardgame set up named Tabula that my daughter and wife played. My wife won so I decided it was best if I didnt challenge her afterwards.





We stopped at the most posh pub we had ever seen on the drive down. The pub was the Plough on the Hill and it was really nice. All of the tables were booked but they snuck us in before a table was due to show up.



I went with a ham and cheese sandwich with chips. It was really good. It had some amazing cheddar cheese on it that really hit the spot.



My wife and daughter went with the fish and chips to share. It was unbelievably crispy and really really good.



Completely unplanned but we passed Stonehenge on the drive.



After some treacherous driving down very windy and narrow rodes we arrived in Swallowcliffe and at the pub part owned by James May. The Royal Oak is absolutely beautiful.



We were quickly checked into our room. There was a bit of a confusing when we said we needed a cot for the room and they gave us a baby cot. Needless to say my 12 year old daughter was not impressed. I blamed it on Captain Slow. The room however was very nice. They had clearly been recently redone and it was a wonderful place to spend the night.



The small item on the desk is actually a fridge and had two bottles of water and some milk for the coffee.



We had dinner reservations for later on that night but snuck in a few photos of the pub before many of the other guests arrived.







Loved the outside courtyard, we ended up spending some time out there before it got dark.





I also had my favourite beer of the trip. Okay, more than a few of them if I am honest. But the drive was stressful.



A town Swallowcliffe is not. But it is a lovely village. We went out for a bit of a walk and to take some pictures.



Gorgeous church.





I could happily live in this house.



We found a walking trail and went for a little stroll. A local dog was very not happy with our presence.







We found our way back to the pub and as we had a tab open figured why not have one more.





We had this drink outside with a view of a gorgeous little Stag.



Before we knew it our dinner reservation was here. The restaurant did fill up quite a bit so we were glad we took the time to make a reservation.

We started with the freshly baked bread, hummus and butter platter to share.



My wife and daughter both had the burger. There was nothing left at the end which is a good indication as to is quality.



I went with the fish and chips. Best fish and chips I had on the trip.



A quick night time post dinner stroll.



At this point we were exhausted and headed up to bed.

What I will say is the pubs owned by Jeremy and James kind of represent them. Jeremy's pub is large, flamboyant and all about sales. James on the other hand owns a pub in a village of less than 100 people and is very laid back and subdued. Both have great establishments in their own right and I would be happy to visit either again in the future. Though I will have someone else drive me to Swallowcliffe next time.

Up next, Brussels airlines to Brussels, Belgium and some chocolate.