Exploring England’s Countryside

England, for a very good reason, is one of my favorite countries for traveling- after countless visits to London, I wanted to know what else England has to offer, and so I left the capital to find out. This is only one segment of the many places I’ve visited in England throughout the years, but one of the most memorable. First, I accepted an invitation at my friend’s house in Great Paxton, which is about an hour from central London. Now I was going to see the countryside at last! Great Paxton is a village in the district of Cambridgeshire. It has a very small population, but there’s greenery all around you!

Holy Trinity Church in Great Paxton
The first thing I got to do was attend a sermon at the historic Holy Trinity Church; an old Anglo-Saxon church that is over 1000 years old, and sits right in the center of town. From there I walked to all the local shops and restaurants, which took me about 2 hours, considering how small the town is! For lunch I stopped at Blazin Burger, a hip, local sit-down restaurant with fresh ingredients, a stunning espresso martini, and the most lovely owner (hi Saideh!) that you’ll ever meet.

Visiting the Jane Austen Trail
Following this, my friend took me on a little road-trip, which led among narrow, winding roads, tiny country houses, green fields, and English pubs on the side of the roads. We ended up in Tom Hardy Country, which is the scenery that inspired Tom Hardy to write his elaborate and fascinating descriptions of England, and we visited the Jane Austen Museum; the only place open to the public, where Jane actually lived and in which she wrote many of her books. It’s located in Hampshire, and right across from it, you can pay a visit to Cassandra’s Cup tearoom and bistro, for a hearty lunch or afternoon tea. It’s fabulous!

Overlooking the village of Turville
On our way home, we took a detour and stopped at Turville, a quaint little village in Buckinghamshire, where the English TV comedy show Vicar of Dibley was filmed. The show is one of my favorites, and therefore this visit had to be on my to-do list. Dibley is only a made-up name for an English town, but Turville is where they actually filmed it. I took a walking tour of all the places seen on the show, such as the church, the fields, and even their houses from the outside (real people live in them). The pub in town was closed at the time, unfortunately, but nonetheless, this was a great place to be on a chilly fall day!
After we returned to Great Paxton, I had 2 full days on my own to fill, so the next day I did what every nerd needs to do at least once in his or her life: Visit the Warner Bros. Studio Tour of Harry Potter! I grew up with these movies and books and even though I’m 27 years old now, I will always remember how wonderful it felt to dive into the magical world of Harry Potter. I had a Butterbeer while I was there, walked among Muggles, and rode on a broom, pretending to play Quidditch, so that’s that! My bucket-list felt completed.

Harry Potter’s hidden train track
On my last day, I ventured out to the nearest college town by bus, to be exact: Cambridge. Having read a ton of books about this place when I was growing up, I was excited to finally be there, and it did not disappoint! I got off the bus and right away found myself among English bicyclists (very typical for Cambridge), and walked into town within 10 minutes. I walked among the impressive college campuses, took a rowing tour on the river, had afternoon tea at Harriet’s; a wonderful spot for a little break in between, and lastly, shopped at the bookstore Waterstones, where they sell classical books, such as Dracula and David Copperfield, in the most beautiful book covers I’ve ever laid eyes on. Cambridge is breathtakingly beautiful and inspires visitors to discover and learn about its history. I was lucky, because I happened to be there during market day, which was also quite an experience! If you’re looking for a unique gift, this is the place to get it. When in England, you must come to Cambridge!

This article was written by Shirley Roberts and the photos are licensed from her. If you enjoyed this article, you can support Global Adventures by giving an upvote, follow, and resteem! If you would like to contribute your stories, please let me know. Thanks for reading!