Cotswolds, Day 2, May 24

  We got up to a sumptuous breakfast this morning at the Woodchester Lodge. There was only one other couple at breakfast, a Dutch couple who are on a walking tour. They planned to do 14 miles today to another spot.
   The Lodge was built in 1896 by a local timber merchant. The house was one of the first in the area to have electricity and the buildings were virtually unchanged until the 1980s.

    During World War Two, it was requisitioned, initially as an officers' barracks for the British Army. Before D-Day, it was taken over by the U.S. army. After the war, it was used to house prisoners of war - first Germans, then Italians. There were 8 bunks to the rooms, including ours. Quite hard to imagine. One of the Germans had been a P.O.W. in the U.S. and spoke English. He became the spokesman of the other Germans while here. He played football with the local team and became a friend with many of the locals, a friendship that was maintained for years.

    We spent the morning touring locally. It was drizzly and overcast, so we did not do the planned walking. We drove to Wooton-Under-Edge first and walked the high street. Then, we drove through North Nibley and through Nibley Green where the last battle between private feudal armies took place in England. From there we wandered about ending up in Slimbridge by a canal. There is a Wildfowl and wetlands center there which we would have visited had the weather been a bit better. From there we drove into Stroud but failed to get a parking spot. So, we drove back to Woodchester and ate at a local pub, The Fleece. Mark had a sausage sandwich and Barbara had a salmon/fish cake.
   We read the afternoon away.
   In the evening, we met Sue and Andre Sobrzak for a pub dinner close to
our bed and breakfast.