Day 7 - Is that Evesham with an "e"?

Well if you haven't figured it out by now, it should be clear that Angela and I have been writing this blog one after the other, and again Ange has waxed eloquently in yesterday's posting. So I will have to raise my game a bit.

It was a dark and stormy night. Suddenly, a shot rang out! A door slammed. The maid screamed. A pirate ship appeared on the horizon! While millions of people were starving, the king lived in luxury. Meanwhile, on a small farm in Kansas, a boy was growing up...okay so I had to rip off Snoopy, or should I say Charles Schultz. Let me try again.

Today we awoke to brilliant blue skies and a cool breeze. Wonderful conditions for touring around on foot, and that is exactly what we had in store for the day. Of course, we were to mix business with pleasure as our day's adventure would take us back through Moreton-in-Marsh where we had identified a couple of lettings worth pursuing. But I will not bore you with that part of the day. Instead we are off to see Evesham in Worcestershire (yes, just like the sauce), a 23-minute train journey northwest of where we are staying. When purchasing the train tickets it became apparent that I did not know how to pronounce the name of the town as the ticket agent had difficulty with my Canadian pronunciation. Was it pronounced Eve -shum (a hard second "e") or Ev-a-shum (a soft second "e")? It is in fact the former, while I tried the latter. I mean, we don't pronounce "every" as eveeeeery do we? In any case, the response from the agent when I told him I was pronouncing the name with a Canadian context was,"Well they pronounce it wrong!" Cheeky bastard!

Evesham is a market town that was settled along the banks of the Avon River where it makes a large bend. In the 8th century, a local swineherder, Eof, was tending his herd in this spot when he saw a vision of the Virgin Mary. The Bishop at the time decided an abbey was to be founded on this site and over the centuries the town was built around it.



However, in 1540, under the instructions of King Henry VIII, troops destroyed the Abbey leaving only two small churches adjacent to it and a bell tower (all that remain today). What a shame.

There are a number of old timber houses still visible on the High Street and one can take a river walk along the Avon that circumnavigates Evesham and provides a wonderful view of the entire town.






















The walk is also marked with humourous sign postings that provide a chuckle along the way.












A late lunch in the Abbey Park (where now only ruins remain) made for a great afternoon.


Our return to Kingham was met with light showers (we were beginning to think that in this village we are always destined to walk back from the train in the rain), but it only made the cottage seem that more inviting.

Ale of the Day: BB, Donnington Brewery, Stow-in-the-Wold, Gloucestershire