Today is a designated rest day which probably cant come soon enough for some of the tired and sore bodies in the touring party. Some have decided to head off to London for the day, Sterling has secured himself a seat in a corporate box at Lords for the England vs India Test Match while Murray is off up to Liverpool to watch the third day of the British Open. For others, including the Queensland contingent it is to be a drive around the beautiful Cotswolds. While all four of us have been there before, it is just such a wonderful place we cant wait to visit it again.

Our trip - punctuated by a fierce but thankfully brief thunderstorm - takes us through four main villages .   Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water, Northleach and Upper and Lower Slaughter.

Stow-on-the-Wold is a small market town, founded as a planned market place by Norman lords to take advantage of trade on the converging roads. Fairs have been held by royal charter since 1330 and an annual horse fair is still held on the edge of the town. We have a coffee in town and Gill and Col check out the local cricket museum.

 Bourton-on-the-Water is known for its picturesque High Street, flanked by long wide greens and the River Windrush that runs through them. The river is crossed by several low, arched stone bridges. These arched bridges have led to Bourton-on-the-Water being called the "Venice of the Cotswolds". It is claimed that Bourton-on-the-Water has more visitors than residents during peak times of the tourist season. A quick lunch and an ale is had at the interestingly-named New Old Inn.

 Northleach - named after the brook "the Leach" which runs part-way through it - was made wealthy by the medieval wool trade of the 15th century, and the main church is of impressive size and quality . There is a wedding in progress when we arrive in the middle of a tremendous thunderstorm but the rain stops after about 10 minutes and the sun is once again shining brightly. A local tells me the wedding party are very lucky - it was bright sunshine before they went into the church, belted down with rain while they are inside and bright sunshine again when they step outside.   A good omen for their marriage perhaps. The boys have an ice-cream and I have an afternoon coffee at The Black Cat Café. I should have bought one of their mugs to bring home to Fergus.

Lower Slaughter is a village 6.4 km south west of Stow-on-the-Wold.   Its built on both banks of the River Eye, which also flows through Upper Slaughter.
At the west end of the village there is a 19th-century water mill with an undershot waterwheel. There is a ford where the river widens in the village and several small stone footbridges join the two sides of the community.
Records exist showing that Lower Slaughter has been inhabited for over 1000 years . The Domesday Book entry has the village name as “Sclostre”, so the names have nothing to do with killing. It further notes that in 1066 and 1086 that the manor was in the sheriff's hands. Lower Slaughter Manor, a Grade-II listed 17th-century house, was granted to Sir George Whitmore in 1611 and remained in his family until 1964. We walked around Lower Slaughter before taking the path through the fields to Upper Slaughter about 1 mile away - then returning by the road that connects both villages.

After returning to Cheltenham and a quick ale (after all, I have been driving all day) we head off in search of fish-and-chips. A quick diversion into the Sudeley Arms for a refreshment and then onto the Feathered Fish, a promising looking pub in Winchcombe Street.   However they have a private function on and only pizzas are on offer.   So its another pint and off again.   We find a pub in the High Street (name unknown - may be due to the afore-mentioned pints) and not only do they have fish-and-chips but they have a two-meals-for-six-pound deal.   We celebrate our good fortune with another pint.   A good feed, a few war stories exchanged and its off to bed as tomorrow we are back into the routine of playing.

We are up against The Boxmen tomorrow........don't ask me what that's all about!!