selfcateringholidays

Where is Daisy Chain Cotswold Family Holidays?

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Where is Daisy Chain Cotswold Family Holidays?

Daisy Chain is a great location for meeting with friends and family from up and down the UK. It’s really accessible, between the M4 and M5

Check out these driving times:
Cardiff 1 hour 20 mins
Southampton 1 hour 20 mins
Birmingham 1 hour 30 mins
London 1 hour 30 mins
Nottingham 2 hours
Exeter 2 hours
Brighton 2 hours 20 mins
Manchester 2 hours 45 mins
Darwin, Australia 24 hours driving by plane, not car 😉

To view the map in more detail follow this link: http://www.scribblemaps.com/maps/view/Location_of_Daisy_Chain/rYL48b4T4H

 

Glass making in the Cotswolds

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Glass making in the Cotswolds

On our last visit to The New Brewery Arts Centre in Cirencester we had the privilege of watching glass-making in action. LoCo Glass have a studio where you can pop in and see their glass-makers in action. It’s a fantastic opportunity to see skilled craftsmen and women making beautiful objects, using techniques which haven’t changed for hundreds of years. We loved watching the glass being wound around like thick treacle. Sharing this album of photos as sometimes people prefer looking at photos to video!

For more information visit http://www.locoglass.co.uk/

 

   

 

 

Bibury Trout Farm

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Bibury Trout Farm

Bibury Trout Farm in the Cotswolds, founded in 1902, is one of Britain’s oldest Trout Farms. It is beautifully landscaped and makes a wonderful addition to any trip to the picturesque town of Bibury. It covers an area of 15 acres in the beautiful Coln Valley. The hatchery, which spawns up to 6 million trout ova every year, is fed by the crystal clear water of the Bibury Spring.

Visitors are able to throw food for the trout and watch them leaping out of the water. The on site shop sells delicious fresh and smoked trout. A great outing for all the family.

For more information visit http://www.biburytroutfarm.co.uk

 

     

 

 

Parent Friendly Stays at Daisy Chain!

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Parent Friendly Stays at Daisy Chain!

A stay at Daisy Chain with Cotswold Family Holidays isn’t just a great for children – it’s a parent friendly stay too. Here’s why:

1. Sauna, Steam room and Gym…as well as a luxury spa.
2. Pub with good food less than a mile away.
3. Free wifi and large screen tv.
4. Really well equipped kitchen – great for foodies
5. Miles of peaceful lakeside walks.
6. Master bedroom with ensuite and amazing lake views.
7. Tennis court and table tennis table.
8. Log burning stove to sit around in the evening.
9. Blackout blinds on the windows to help little ones sleep that bit longer.
10. Plenty of wine glasses!

and of course a family holiday couldn’t be parent friendly if it wasn’t child friendly too. So here’s what the kids can look forward to:

1. Heated indoor and outdoor swimming pools.
2. Great paths for scooting and cycling round.
3. Playground with swings, slides climbing frame, a trampoline and football goals.
4. Chickens to visit.
5. Lots of toys to play with.
6. Children’s DVDs and a large screen tv to watch them on.
7. A great house for hide and seek.
8. Child size cutlery and plastic plates so no-one gets upset when they are dropped.
9. Trees to climb.
10. Bridges to play pooh sticks from.

Like to know a little more? Pop over to http://www.cotswoldfamilyholidays.com/

 

Sunday Sunrise…turn the volume up!

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Sunday Sunrise…turn the volume up!

A video for you this morning so that you can hear the dawn chorus. The forecast was for a grey start to the day on Friday, so when I peeked through the curtains at Daisy Chain just to check that there wasn’t a sunrise I was very excited to find this! When I opened the window the full sound of the dawn chorus was revealed! Enjoy 10 seconds of the magic of Daisy Chain.

 

Check this out on Google+

Harry Potter at Half Term

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Harry Potter at Half Term

A trip to Gloucester Cathedral would make a great half term trip – a reminder of this popular idea from earlier in the year! The vaulted cloisters at Gloucester Cathedral became the corridors leading to Gryffindor House, part of Hogwarts School, during filming of the first two Harry Potter Movies. The Cathedral, one of the finest medieval buildings in the country, has been a place of worship for over 1300 years. It is renowned for its stunning stained glass windows, architecture and choir.

During your visit look out for the Lavatorium on the North Walk where Harry Potter and Ron Weasley hid from the giant troll!

For more information about how the cathedral was transformed for its role in the films http://bit.ly/gloscat

For visitor information https://gloucestercathedral.org.uk/explore/explore-visit

Photo credit Jonathan Billinger http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2318206

 

Rare Roman Cockerel on display

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Rare Roman Cockerel on display

New Roman finds have just gone on display at Cirencester’s Corinium Museum. In 2011 an enamelled cockerel was found during excavations of the western cemetery of Corinium (Roman Cirencester). The cockerel is one of only 9 known cockerel figurines from the Roman world, and is the only one with its tail intact. The cockerel is 12.5cm tall and the breast, wings, eyes and comb are inlaid with enamel, which is now blue and green.

Visitors will also be able to see a selection of beads and bracelets, which would have been high status objects and give a real insight into the people who lived in Corinium. The Tetbury Coin Hoard is also on display – it contains 1437 silver and copper-alloy 3rd Century Roman coins. The remarkably intact pottery vessel which contained them is also on display.

More information and photo credit: http://coriniummuseum.org

Cerney Cheese

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Cerney Cheese

Lady Angus developed a love of French cheeses while she was holidaying and living in France. When she returned to England she set out on her journey to produce goats cheese (using the knowledge she had gained from a French farmer’s wife). After much experimentation, aided by two trusty goats, Cerney Cheese was born. The herd soon grew and production moved from the butlers’ pantry at Cerney House to Chapel Farm in North Cerney. The production remains true to the original hand made recipe and process. Every process is carried out by hand, from ladling and pressing the curd into moulds, to gently patting oak ash on the pyramid, or tying rafia around the vine.

Cerney pyramid is a pyramid shaped cheese dusted with oak ash and salt. The cheese has a mild, citrus taste, with a delicate goaty finish, thanks to the unpasturised milk. In fact the cheese is very similar to fromage frais. Cerney Cheese products can be round in a number of Waitrose stores across the Cotswolds.

For more information http://www.cerneycheese.com/

Cerney Cheese

 

Looking for a special gift?

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Looking for a special gift?

The centre for contemporary craft in the Cotswolds
New Brewery Arts is Gloucestershire’s hub of visual and performing arts and crafts. A converted Victorian brewery housing a contemporary art gallery, craft shop and cafe, a theatre and twelve on-site maker studios, New Brewery Arts offers visitors a unique arts and crafts shopping experience.

A centre of excellence that stocks the best of British craft, the gallery shop won a coveted Silver Award in the Retail Tourism category of the very first Cotswold Tourism Awards 2010. On-site makers in world-class studios include glass blowers, textile artists, ceramicist, upholsterer, bookbinder, stained glass maker and jeweller. The weaver is one of only a handful in the country using a traditional eight-shaft loom.

Visitors have the opportunity to watch craftspeople at work and to buy directly from them or browse an array of their work on show in the New Brewery Arts café and shop. All the pieces are for sale, and makers are happy to discuss individual requirements to create unique commissioned pieces.

Its central location makes New Brewery Arts a must for visitors to Cirencester, the Cotswolds, and the South West. Open seven days a week, you can drop in any day for lunch, visit the gallery, studios and craft shop – and select that very special gift.

Posted by Naomi at http://www.cotswoldfamilyholidays.com/

 

Surfing down a River

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Surfing down a River

Have you seen one of Britain’s spectacular natural phenomena, the Severn Bore? It is a large surge wave that occurs in the estuary of the River Severn, where the tidal range can be as much as 15 metres. The estuary is shaped in such a way that the water is funnelled into an increasingly narrow channel as the tide rises, thus forming a large wave. As the width of the river rapidly decreases, so does its depth, thus forming a funnel shape. As the incoming tide travels up the estuary it is squeezed into an ever decreasing channel and the surge wave, or bore, is formed. The wave travels upstream for roughly 22 miles until it reaches Gloucester.

The Severn bore has become very popular with surfers, with the largest biggest 4 and 5 star bores occuring in conjunction with large spring and autumn tides. The bore is best surfed on a nine to ten foot longboard – the extra buoyancy and length are necessary when attempting to surf a tidal wave. If surfing is not for you, the bore also attracts a lot of spectators, eager to watch the spectacle as the bore travels past.

For Severn bore times and more information visit http://bit.ly/severnbore

Severn Bore

Photo credit: cc-by-sa/2.0 – Surfing the Severn bore by Jim Nicholls geograph.co.uk/p/379254