Bourton-on-the-Water

 

Bourton-on-the-Water is such a major tourist attraction that during the peak times of the tourist season it often has more visitors than residents.

An overcast autumn day is the time to visit and this is what we did.

The village does not look as glorious

but it was quiet and we were able to enjoy ourselves without the crowds.

Most buildings are of 17th century origin. The houses and shops are constructed of the yellow linestone characteristic of the Cotswolds and they have the embellishments that make Cotswold architecture so picturesque:

 

 

 

 

 

projecting gables, windows with stone mullions and stone hoodmoulds over the doors.

The main attraction of this village is the extremely shallow river, the Windrush, that runs through it

 

and which is crossed by several low, arched stone bridges.

 



 

 

Two bridges next to each other here, one for pedestrians and one for cars

 



 

 

narrow alleyways

lovingly tended gardens

weeping willows dipping in the water

lots of hotels and eateries to cater for the tourist trade

 

the motor museum

 



 

and it's all so picturesque

 

As you can see, pretty deserted at this time of year - perfect

except for the water birds

love the geese!

Having wandered around for quite a while

we ended up at the model village which is attached to this pub, the Old New Inn.

The model village first opened to the public in 1937

 

The scale is one to nine

 

 



 

 

and it's an exact replica

 



 

the miniature gardens are landscaped to be as realistic as possible: alpines, miniature roses, tiny conifers and mature shrubs and trees have been used.

A replica of the shallow river runs through

 

the church has tiny pews and one can hear organ  music being played

 



 

the stone buildings are delightful

the gardens have been reproduced as faithfully as possible

and no model village would be complete without the model within the model and of course, the model within that model.