We have been exploring England and Wales from my sister’s and brother in law’s home in the Cotswolds. It is one of the prettiest parts of the English countryside. There are so many quaint villages, with their narrow streets, market squares, yellow stone buildings and very old parish churches, some dating back to the 12th Century. Every village, and there are dozens of them, is a picture. Even the names counjure up fascinating images – Stowe in Wold, Moreton in Marsh, Burton-on-Water, Chipping Sodbury, and who could forget Upper and Lower Slaughter.

Even deciding where to have lunch can be difficult because the choice of cute, or impressive country pubs is almost unlimited. We had one memorable pub lunch in the aptly named Castle Inn at Edgehill, having our steak and ale pie while gazing over the glorious Cotswolds countryside on an beautiful sunny day. How does it get better than this.

Oxford is a fascinating city, with its long history as a university town. We took a guided walking tour which is a must given that there is so much history here. For example we learnt that Bob Hawke, a prior Prime Minister of Australia, still holds the record at Rhodes College (very prestigious) for the fastest beer drinker – 3 litres in 6 seconds. This was also the college where Bill Clinton "smoked, but didn’t inhale". I presume that important things also occurred in these colleges. The Bodliean Library is one of the famous institutions of Oxford University and its reading room, the so called Radcliffe Camera, is an architectural gem.

No visit to the Cotswolds would be complete without a visit to Stratford on Avon, birthplace of William Shakespeare. The town has many wonderfull half timbered houses, some “black and white”, but many left in the original unpainted form, like Shakespeares house itself. We also couldn’t resist hiring a rowboat to just mooch around on the Avon – sunny day, white swans with their fluffy cygnets trailing behind, no crowds - what a way to spend some time.

We travelled north to Yorkshire through the moors and over the Dales. Our first night was spent in a B&B in an old, but still working, mill. Low ceilings and beams across the room at face height. Charming and all that, but imagine living with it – ducking all the time and the perpetual fear of braining yourself. The countryside was as expected – just beautiful. How fantastic to have a picnic in front of a ruined abbey that’s just down a county lane. Rivaulx Abbey is one of hundreds of ruins dotted through the whole British countryside.

The villages in Yorkshire have their own unique character and the prettiest and quietest ones are usually off the beaten path. We loved the high street of Pately Bridge and enjoyed a wonderful Engligh cream tea of scones with jam and clotted cream.

We left the A roads and kept to B roads and country lanes – sometimes a courageous (or stupid) move. We got very good at judging the width of the car, and at reversing to the last passing bay, which usually left enough room for two minis to pass. This lane at Grassington is typical in Yorkshire, especially the stone walls. Our most exhilarating day was spent travelling over the top of the Dales, in the rain, on a country lane shared with sheep, over cloud covered peaks, past vast sweeps of purple heather. Talk about atmospheric. We both reckon it doesn’t get much better than this.

We travelled through the Lake District and especialy loved the narrow rough country lanes alongside Thirlemere and Conniston Lakes. We so enjoyed Kirkstone Pass which comes over the top of the mountains down to Lake Windermere that we drove it twice.

On our way to Wales we stopped off at Chester to walk through the "black and white" historic centre of this city. Basically the whole centre of town is like this. I guess you might get used to it but as a person passing through it is very impressive. The town also has an ancient Roman Amphitheatre which is half visable and is covered in archeologists still digging away. The history of the place!

We just had to see Carnarvon Castle while in Wales. Its a real castle that saw action in the Welsh / English wars and totally dominates the town.

Wales is famous for its slate and its mines have exported this building and roofing material around the world for centuries. We visited Dolgellau where the entire town is built out of slate. On an overcast day it seemed foreboding. We're told that when it rains all the stone goes jet black. Imagine that! Thank god for flower boxes.

The whole of central and northern England and Wales is covered by a canal network. In Llangollen we came across this 100 year old canal viaduct where the canal boats travel forty metres above the valley floor. Chatting to the people on the boat we discovered that they had just come out of a mile long tunnel, unlit. This seems like a great way to explore the countryside at a very slow pace. The ultimate in "Slow Travel".