Bourton-on-the-Water

This marks the beginning of what will hopefully be a quartet of blog entries on tourist hotspots around Oxford, England, with distinctly unprofessional photography and subsequent editing carried out by yours truly. So, we begin with Bourton-on-the-Water, part of the Cotswolds - one of the UK's AONBs. Fortunately for me (and, probably to a greater extent, you) the photos will do most of the talking; a picture speaks a thousand words, after all. I will be tempted to list what each of those thousand words are, of course.

This is the River Windrush which flows through the heart of the village. Although there's no sign of showy boats or Italians playing romantic music, it's easy to see how BotW is often compared with Venice.

As the Windrush deepens you can only cross on the footbridges such as the one above. Just in front of this one, on the left side of the image, you can see a ramp leading into the water: surprisingly, that's a legal road for vehicles, although I think anything smaller than a 4x4 is unrecommended.

These trees are the sentinels of the route if you will, hanging over the river on the left and the lane farther right. If any naturalist (or someone who simply isn't ecologically ignorant) can identify them for me, then please do.

This is the shallower end of the river, where plenty of children and dogs can be seen paddling and splashing. The creatures at the top are, as I imagine you've discerned, ducks. According to my auntie, specifically they are mallards, and while I love a good argument I'm in no position to disagree. If it gets your back up that I've bothered to capture one of the most commonly sighted species in the country, then scroll the hell down. :P

Haha! Another duck!

...And another...

...Everyone loves a good duck...

...OK, I'll stop now.

How did that end up here?

Moving swiftly on...

This gift shop is one of the traditional places you'd expect to find at any British tourist destination. In keeping with that tradition, there are several cafes serving cream teas, a chippy, and a couple of sweet shops.

A shot of my uncle and auntie with what I thought was a nice, scenic backdrop.

A motor museum on the other side of the bridge pictured earlier. On the left you can see a model car seemingly fashioned from wire.

A war memorial in the village's central park decorated by floral wreaths. Precisely what it is memorialising I don't know as the only inscriptions are the names of the fallen. It is most likely one of the many monuments for WWI/II, situated all over the country.

I felt this tree was sufficiently oddly shaped to warrant a photo. :P Look closely and it resembles a teddy bear, I reckon.

A view of one side of BotW...

...And the other side.

We only perused the entrance of this park, but may return to it later.

Upon closer inspection through the bars it's possible to spot some fish which I believe to be trout (don't ask me which kind). If you can't put your finger on them, try the next photo...

Yeah, they're much clearer here.

These are waterfowl captured just inside Birdland's entrance. On most pictures I've reduced the bright glare, but in this instance it gives the birds' feathers an elegant shimmer. See? I can be artsy-fartsy! Oh, and if you're curious to find out how I knew what they're called, given my limited knowledge of..things...

...Here's your answer. :P

Part of the entrance to the rather lazily named Birdland.

Another one of my auntie Helen. The section of the water where we saw the waterfowl is behind.

And to end we have this peculiarity, on the other side of the bars you saw earlier. Aesthetically it's..er..not up to much, so I can only surmise that it's imitating a wasp to scare something off, but I can't think what or why. Ideas?

Thus concludes my cyber-tour of Bourton-on-the-Water. You'd better have smegging enjoyed it, because the image tool on this site is rather awkward, so it took an age to structure. Providing the weather is fine I shall return with a similar presentation of Kidlington soon.

Catch you later,
Ryan