Our second full day in the Cotswolds was supposed to be rainy and also it was a bank holiday, so we didn't think we'd be able to find parking or enjoy the little towns we had slated for the day. Instead, we decided to drive to Puzzlewood (which was actually very close to our hotel in Wales) and then visit the Cider Museum in Hereford, both things I'd really wanted to do and was feeling angsty about missing.
Puzzlewood is an ancient woodland (dating back at least 10,000 years) in the Forest of Dean, in Gloucestershire England. A local landowner laid down a mile of windy, maze-like pathways in the 1800s for his children, friends, and neighbors, and it later opened as a tourist attraction in the 1900s. I wanted to make sure we had it mostly to ourselves, so we were there and in line at the ticket office before the gates even opened--then we dashed in!
It's even more glowy-green and otherworldly than it looks in the pictures, and it truly feels like something magical could happen to you at any moment. It allegedly served as inspiration for the Forbidden Forest in the Harry Potter series and for scenes in The Lord of the Rings--and it actually did serve as a filming location for Harry Potter, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and lots of other movies!
We spent about an hour wandering around, helping Elowen over the bridges and up steep slick steps, until we made the full circle. With the birdsong and the gray skies above and the dripping trees, it felt like we were the only people on earth (until about 10 minutes before we left, when parents and their children arrived en masse).
Puzzlewood was one of my favorite experiences from the trip, hands down. It also has miniature ponies, donkeys, ducks, chickens, and other animals you can visit on the way out! (Though the chickens were relentlessly bullying a young duck, and Elowen found that very upsetting.)
There are also other lots of other things to do in the Forest of Dean, including breweries, a jail museum, and a cave network that looked awesome--so I'd love to go back.
The forest was holding a bunny hunt for Easter and that's fun but...the damp bunnies in the eldritch forest are pretty creepy.
Next up was Hereford (if that sounds familiar, Hereford cows come from that area). We didn't have time to really tour the town, but I did very much want to visit the Cider Museum, as I love cider. The museum was set up in the 1970s in an old factory to preserve the history of cider making, and the two levels of information are pretty interesting whether you drink or not--it's a glimpse into a previous era of life. You start in an area that teaches you about the practice of planting orchards, then learn about cider making, traveling cider makers, cider glasses, and all the different kinds of apples, as well as about bottling and production. My favorite part was learning about the different kinds of apples and seeing the beautiful illustrations from a 1787 treatise on apples, pears, and cider making.
The museum also had so many activities for kids, including coloring, embossing, and dress up!
Elowen dressing in a cider making smock and taking a call to learn about the factory.
Cider storage and machinery in the basement
The company boardroom and the treatise on apples and pears
Elowen embossing a post-it and our cider tasting at the end of the museum...did you know cider made from pears is called "perry"? Also a lot of ciders have a very barny taste, for lack of a better descriptor...I prefer the very sweet, juicy ones.
And finally, the closest I got to a hedgehog...much bigger than I thought??
After the museum, we went into the actual city and visited the cow statue and Old House, built in 1621; it's the only house remaining from its row and was used by butchers, ironmongers, and bankers before it started its current life as a museum.
Early on in the trip, I mentioned to Taylor that I wished there was a pie restaurant that served all different kinds of pie (the pubs all just had one kind apiece). He Googled and made my dream come true with a visit to Pieminster, in a local pub. They had not only many kinds of pies, but a rotating monthly flavor as well! Just look at those delicious descriptions. We got the Moo & Blue (steak and Stilton cheese), the Funghi Chicken (chicken and mushroom), and the Big Cheese Pie (vintage cheddar, potato and leek, Emmental, and cider). One of my favorite meals on the trip! And I'd like to go back and explore Hereford some more, as we spent so little time there. Story of my travel life--always too much to see and never enough time to see it.
Comments
Post a Comment