A Design For Life

Maybe because we’re quite close to Wales, Hannah has had A Design For Life by the Manic Street Preachers in her head. She’s also proving excellent at a Welsh accent, a talent I forgot she had, and which I’m trying to emulate.

We understand why Travelodge is a budget option. These are not hotels that spend a lot on noise insulation. Our stay has been accompanied by much bellowing, shrieking, music and stamping around in stilettos from the room above. I’ve been guilty of the same in the past (the bellowing more than the stilettos) so I won’t vilify the occupants, but will urge the Travelodge Board of Directors to consider guests’ sleep quality in their blueprints.

Today we drove further south towards where the Cotswolds poke down in the direction of Bath. A patch of forest known as ‘Cotswolds Commons and Beechwoods National Nature Reserve’ stood out at us on the map, and we did a circular walk from Clanham to Sheepscombe and back. The hills were steep and the legs weary but the scenery was delightful and a world away from the heaving masses of tourists at some of the more popular spots in the hub of the Cotswolds. I massively recommend hidden Cotswolds villages as places to start walks, over the better known towns. You’ll be rewarded with more solitude and beauty, although it might be harder to buy a novelty tea towel. Some of the villages are devoid of discernible life and are almost painfully quaint. As we did, you may also find a gem of a pub serving up simple good fare, which we fell upon as a post-walk meal.

On the train back towards Cambridge I resembled a bag lady having acquired some extra books from Han and needing to cart snacks left over from our raid of Home Bargains.

After a restorative bank holiday weekend, I think the Manics’ ethos of a good design for life can be summarised as 1) the great outdoors, 2) some light exertion and 3) unpretentious pub grub.