When I come across a picture of a place that makes me stop and stare in awe, I make sure I find out and note down the name, which then gets added to my long list of places to visit. Bibury was one such place. I remember casually browsing through pictures of the English countryside one afternoon at work, when I came across a picture of a row of houses- they were stone cottages neatly lined one after the other along a curvey road and was surrounded by fresh green foliage and a dull weather- it took my breath away! So beautiful, so serene, just how I had imagined a dream holiday-home to look like. On looking it up, I found out that those rows of houses were famous- 'The Arlington Row' in Bibury is one of the most scenic spots in all of England and the village itself was very popular with tourists. Being touted as one of the prettiest villages in Europe, this charming town was on the top of my 'weekend visits' list.
Nestled in the edges of the Cotswolds, Bibury is about an hour and 15 minutes from Oxford. There being no direct bus, my friends and I took one to Northleach (an hour away from Oxford) and had to change buses to get to Bibury. There was sometime before the next bus arrived to Bibury and this gave us the opportunity to look around Northleach a little. The minute you come out of Oxford and enter smaller towns, you almost feel like you are the only ones there. Northleach was a small, extremely quiet town with not a single soul in sight.
We walked along the road towards the town centre, passing by a few shops. What was supposed to be the town centre was nothing more than one major bus stop surrounded by a few local shops and pubs. We were there fairly early and not many places were open. Fortunately, we found one pub- it's homey interiors and a warm host helped us spend most of our time as we waited for the next bus. Besides, one can never get tired of spending time yapping over cups of tea/hot chocolate/ coffee. Beside the pub was a tiny path that led to a cemetery. I am one of those strange individuals who find cemeteries very appealing.
I don't know what it is about them- maybe just the combination of green grass and cold grey stones- I find that beautiful and soothing. As we walked past the graves, I was doused into the same calm sensation before being immediately pulled out of it when my friends yelled- "Hurry up, will you! The bus is going to be here." Soon enough our bus to Bibury arrived. Having done some research, I knew the spots we had to hit- Arlington Row, the Church and the Trout Farm. The bus driver was kind enough to chalk out a route for us in order to be able to cover all these spots. We reached Bibury in about 15 minutes. Needless to say, this place looked picture-postcard-perfect. Lush green surroundings, limestone cottages and small streams- I could have lived here forever!
We walked along towards the Church. Unfortunately, being shut, we couldn't go in. But luckily enough, there was another cemetery around the church where we walked around. (I am aware I am beginning to sound like a creepy zombie strangely obsessed with cemeteries, but, what the hell!)
We then made our way out towards Arlington Row- these cottages were once weaver cottages and were famed for being used as locations for a number of films. If you are a sucker for the English countryside, THIS is the place for you. There is something so hauntingly beautiful about stone cottages covered in moss and creepers or wild flowers growing along the side of a puddle or a narrow dirt path covered in the shades of humongous green trees. For the longest time we quietly walked around soaking in every bit of this.
As lunch time approached we stopped at the only restaurant we saw- The Catherine Wheel. A charming place with some lovely food- a good hour or so was spent satisfying our craving for good food and good conversation. We then made our way to the final spot- the trout farm. The trout farm was a large area that was broken into small pounds with trout that you could feed, interspersed with picnic spots. It was indeed a lovely place to come spend a day and picnic about. We laughed and giggled like school girls while we dropped trout food into the ponds and watched the fishes come towards it in lightening speed as though they hadn't been fed forever. On walking ahead, to our delight, we came across swans- both white and black! This was the first time any of us saw a black swan. Black feathers and a striking red beak- this royal Australian swan floated around the pond as we marveled at it. Having spent quite some time here, we made our way out. After stopping to buy a few souvenirs and postcards, we made our way back to the bus stop to return home.
Bibury is one of those places you should visit if you just want a change from the usual mundane busy-ness of a city. The breathtaking yet soothing surroundings will transport you to a fresher, more tranquil place within yourself, even if only for a few hours.