Tackley

Although the weather has been very cold it has been beautiful here - a bit like Narnia with frost staying on the trees and plants all day. On Sunday the sun came out for a while and we went for a drive to Banbury. All the way up on the Banbury Road I was going 'Wow!' - the countryside is breathtaking in Oxfordshire. I hadn't realised how beautiful this county is. And still very unspoilt (long may that continue). On the way back we decided to go to a little village called Tackley, as we'd heard it was nice. It was like going back in time about 100 years - a proper old-fashioned village with a few children playing on the pretty village green, a Christmas tree with lights waiting for a switching on ceremony that night. It was like a Midsomer Murders village without the murders! We went into the village's only pub, The Gardiner Arms and as we walked through the door we could hear the gentle bubble of conversation - no music or sport noise going on in the background. And to top it all the people in there were so nice and friendly. We whiled away an enjoyable couple of hours there and will definitely be returning!