vampyresheep

We took an extra day off on Thursday to head to Cardiff for my brother's birthday before spending the weekend in Chepstow. As the weather forecast looked OK, we decided to take the scenic route, via the A40 and stopped off at Snowshill Manor on the way.
This was a rather eccentric place, set in the wonderfully scenic (and very english!) Cotswolds countryside. The house was purchased by Charles Wade at the end of the 19th Century and with inherited wealth, chose to restore the house and fill it with a massive collection of ornaments, eccentricities and treasures from all over the world but all found in the UK. Swords, armour, oriental chests, spinning wheels, toys, the place was packed to the rafters, with each room themed and quaintly titled over each doorway.
Charles Wade himself never lived in the house, but took up residence in a tiny cottage next door, which was equally eccentrically furnished.

We had a bit of a picnic in the gardens before visiting the house, before having to run for cover from a sudden torrential rain shower. Other than that we were quite lucky with the weather and some time was spent exploring the beautiful Arts & Crafts gardens before settling for a coffee out on the cafe terrace.
It was difficult to tear ourselves away but forced ourselves to do so, to continue our journey home. Unfortunately this did mean we hit the school-run traffic and it took an hour to travel the short distance between Cheltenham and Gloucester; 3.5 hours to make the journey to Cardiff!

Some photos under the cut. Unfortunately no pics were allowed in the house itself.