Doors of the Church, JRR Tolkien described these doors in his books. Beautiful, huh? These are the doors of St. Edward's Church, we didn't go in as they were having a funeral. Although Tolkien never lived in the Cotswolds, he had family not far away.
We started the day in Burford Village, the location of St. John the Baptist Church. This church was built by the wool merchants, with beginnings dating back to the 12th century. All the signs were about the merchants, mostly those that are buried here and in the churchyard. 
On to Stow on the Wold, famous for their sheep market and sheep trading. A delightful town with cute shops and the beautiful church doors. Also a stockade in the town center. It has very narrow alleyways so they could count each sheep as it came into the square, making sure no one was 'fleeced'.
We had to stop at the Porch House for a half pint, this is the oldest tavern in England, established in 947 AD.
There was an afternoon walk option but 10 out of 12 of us chose to not go. Which finally gave me time to update this blog.
We moved on to Broadway town where our hotel, the 600 year old Lygon Arms stands in all its glory.
Our evening was for drinks at the hotel bar and as we traipsed across the lawn to our entertainment the staff went crazy, no drinks out of the bar! (Everything went into paper cups). Our delightful evening was provided by our new part -time guide Phil Collins, his real name by the way. He's an actor, musician and story teller. He gave us the history of an Italian puppet named Punchello. Later in England named Punch, who had a wife originally named Joan, who later became Judy.
That hotel looks very neat to be in. And the church doors are magical.
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