Photos

The River Windrush, a gentle babbling rook flowing through Bourton-on-the-Water. Although at the moment it looks quiet, this is not your typical sleepy idyllic English village, it is really a tourist honeypot and is absolutely crowded from mid morning onward most days of the year.

It has got all the right ingredients, with the River Windrush and its six arched bridges and wide grassy banks, running parallel with the main street and dividing the the village in two.

The traditional Cotswold architecture, some dating back to the seventeenth century, with honey coloured limestone walls, mullioned windows, stone tiled roofs and a generous helping of gables. This village has everything and knows it and on a warm summers day it makes a memorable visit, just promenade up one side of the river and down the other, taking in all the sights.

It is not short on attractions, including Birdland, a trout farm, model village, model railway, motor museum and a perfumery, there are also a number of pleasant walks to be had.

All this and history too, with its older name of Boroughton its origins can be traced back to Roman times and beyond, there is evidence to indicate a Bronze age settlement (1500-700 BC). The Roman Fosse Way which runs from the mouth of the Humber to Devon, passes the top of Bourton-in-the-Water.