Introduction
Last Christmas we were given a voucher for a two-night stay in a hotel. We had ummed and ahhed all year about how and when we would use it but eventually settled on a Double Tree hotel at Charlton Kings, Cheltenham. A very wise choice as it turns out, a great location, delicious food and courteous staff.
We hadn't given much thought as to what we would do during the time that we were there, we knew that Cheltenham itself is an interesting town to have a wander around and so it proved on our first day. The hotel had a comprehensive display of "places to visit" leaflets and I selected a number that I thought might be of interest. One of them was for an "All year round Christmas Shop". I knew that would be of interest to my wife, we have visited many of these types of establishments, mainly in the 'States'. When I showed her the leaflet, there was no doubt that we would be heading for Lechlade, where the shop was located, the next day.
St. Mary's Church Fairford
As we were passing through Fairford, along the A417, I noticed a rather imposing church tower above the rooftops. We both like looking around old churches, they tend to be depositories of England's rich history. We were in no particular hurry to get to Lechlade so we decide to stop off in Fairford (of Airshow fame) to look at the church. Like many Cotswold towns and villages, Fairford is pleasing to the eye, particularly the 'High St.' with its attractive shops and Inns.
We found the church at the top of the High Street, you could hardly miss this attractive, largely 15th/16th century, building. After taking photos of the exterior we walked to the entrance and were greeted by one of the volunteer guides. Unfortunately, I didn't ask her name, I was told afterwards that it could have been Cherillard; she made us very welcome and shared her great and justified, enthusiasm for the church. In particular, she drew our attention to its unique stained glass windows and gave us a guide sheet that described the stories that each one was telling. They are extremely detailed and are depicting several biblical stories in one window. One would have to be a dedicated researcher with hours, or even days, available in order to fully decipher the stories being told, so beautifully, in each of the 28 windows.
Surprise encounters
Halfway through our nearly two-hour visit to St. Mary's, Cherillard was replaced by Geoff Price who was equally enthusiastic and knowledgeable. He and I had an interesting conversation about William Tyndale's translation of the Bible into English using the original Greek rather than the Latin (Vulgate) text. My wife and I continued to look around the church, when we were ready to say our goodbyes to Geoff and his wife I saw that Geoff was in conversation with an elderly gentleman. We had spoken to Geoff's wife, Hope, earlier and discovered a rather bizarre coincidence - As a child, I lived in Aston, Birmingham and still have contact with the United Reformed Church there. Hope mentioned that a very good friend of hers, the Rev. Audrey Martin-Doyle had established a Lee Abbey Community house in Aston some years ago. I was aware of this community through my connection with the URC church in Aston. So, here we were in the Cotswolds discovering a connection with an inner Birmingham suburb - amazing.
I had to interrupt Geoff's conversation with the elderly gentleman in order to say goodbye. We then went on our way to have a tour of Fairford's environs. When we eventually arrived back at our car, parked in Fairford's splendid FREE car park, I was about to get into the car when I saw the elderly gentleman, who we had seen in St Mary's Church, walking, at pace, towards me. "Do you come from Birmingham?" he inquired. I answered in the affirmative and thus began an interesting conversation with a man who told me that he had been the Vicar of St. Mary the Virgin in nearby Meysey Hampton, he retired in 2004. He was full of admiration for Geoff and his wife and told me that the latter had written a book about Angels. What another incredible encounter.
Lechlade
After that, the visit to the Christmas Shop in Lechlade paled into insignificance, even more so when we discovered that it was closed! However, even there I had a chance conversation with a 'window cleaner' who owned a 1964 Ford Mustang V8 ( I run a classic car website **). Also, I took some photos of the river Thames which runs through Lechlade.
So, all in all, a very memorable day!!
Note -
If you are unable to visit St. Mary's Church, Fairford, yourself (highly recommended) then I have put a link at the bottom of the page that provides a pretty good summary.
Here are some photos from the trip -
Cheltenham -
St. Mary's Fairford -
Fairford -
The Christmas Shop Lechlade -
