GGSA2019 / Bourton-on-the-Water

Sometime around 1996 I was in Bourton-on-the-Water with my first wife, who must have been quite pregnant with Milly at the time, all three of our kids to date, plus her parents. Izzy would have been getting on for eighteen months old and wherever she went, she carried a little figurine of the John Smith character from 'Pocahontas'.

She was a delightful yet independent little girl and you had to keep an eye on her. Luckily Charlie and Hannah weren't so wild and needed less management but even so, Izzy contrived to wander up onto one of the low bridges and, while peering into the water, lost her grip on John Smith. 

While we tried to simultaneously console her and make a fruitless attempt to exploit the opportunity to explain why it was important that she did what she was told, Charlie got straight to the nub of the problem and took off her shoes and socks before wading in to rescue the ailing mariner. (I'm sure there is something here that anticipates where we are twenty years later with Charlie being a social worker and Izzy working for an aid organisation in Africa.)

I went there for the first time since then, today, on a Good Gang tour of the Cotswolds, which took in Stow-on-the-Wold, the aforementioned Bourton, and, finally, Chipping Camden. The last time we were all in this final town was the night before I got married, when our resolution to remain relatively sober was holed below the waterline by the arrival of Ross (sadly absent from this year's trip), who came to the table via the bar and brought everyone a couple of pints. At breakfast the next morning, our landlady had kindly put aspirins next to our plates. I'm rather glad that I inadvertently had a proper stag do and I remember with affection the effort everyone made the next day, final recoveries being made in the pub in Kingham before we walked to the church. 

Back to the present and, after an afternoon nap, we reconvened for a couple more beers before making our way to Burford's curry house, at which, thankfully, Bob had booked us a table. And it was popular with good reason!

Today's extra: I popped out for an early run to both clear my head and prepare for another day's indulgence. I mapped out a five mile route but, inevitably, got lost. A rather charming chap, up early to tend his garden, helped me out, and set me on a path from his plot through the fields back to Burford. It made for a slightly longer and much more enjoyable run.

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No scales
Reading: 'Are We Still Rolling?' by Phill Brown