This was another four-hour driving day which we had decided to break into two halves. Two hours to Chedworth Roman Villa where we spent a little more than two hours and then the final two hour drive to Kington.

Our Citroen C4 is so big and has so much grunt, it couldn't be referred to as a she. He gave us a hell of a ride across country from the Chiltern Hills to the big sky country of north-west Herefordshire. He drops into hidden dips (to which Ches responds, let's hope it's Baba Ganoush) and takes your breath away, sweeps around bends in country roads that have less and less hedgerows as we travel west.

The patchwork fields appear to be smaller in the west. The hills are wider and rolling rather than the higher ones in the east that are crowned with forests. It occurred to me that the pattern of agriculture has changed dramatically in England over the last two hundred and a bit years. By 1875, something like 80% of all land was owned by just 7,000 people. The wealthy had been buying up the land and consolidating into larger and larger estates. In New Soth Wales and other colonies at the same time, the governments and British government were encouraging immigration. Britian was still trying to shed itself of people displaced from the land and the colonies to increase their populations. The problem was that the colonial governments were following the same practice of allowing the wealthy and influential to acquire vast properties. AND, the purpose of this here in my blog? A resident of Watsons Bay, where I grew up, was John Robertson, later Sir John. He was five time premier of the colony of New South Wales and on every occasion pushed legislation to curb the wealthy and encourage smaller land holdings by family farmers.

We had tried to visit Chedworth over fifteen years ago, but it was closed by the time we got there. It was before we could afford mobile phones in the UK, and we couldn't check ahead when travelling anywhere. Lots of wasted side trips back then. We only came to visit today by fluke. It wasn't included in our plans until a couple of days ago. I realised that in driving from east to west, we would pass fairly close to Cheltenham, and I remembered that Chedworth was only a few miles to the south. So, we finally made it … and was it worthwhile!

It's located at the head of a valley of very fertile land. It has a natural spring to supply water and it's nestled into woodland on three sides with a great view down the valley. Of all the National Trust sites, it's about the most isolated and access is via just one road in (and out). There is a village nearby, however while Yanworth is an amazing collection of stone buildings in the top of a hill, it doesn't have any shops at all. One of the buildings had a blackened burned-out roof that looked to have been from a recent fire. So photographic, the whole village, however, nowhere to park (we thought).

The car park is the worst organised of any tourist attraction. A narrow one way road for about 200 meters, with instructions to "angle park". No advice on what angle, and given the different length of cars and small vans, they were parked like a mouth of teeth in need of an orthodontist. The last 70 meters they are parked on both sides of the road and with no one to advise that it was full, it was like a school of fish swimming into an already full net. OMG, talk about a struggle for three cars trying to do a Uturn at the same time, while another five are blocking up the road behind. I dropped Ches off as I went in search of the "overflow" car park. Another car attempted to head up to the entrance. I turned him, away and when finally parked, advised him to be grateful; I'd saved him ten minutes.

Back with Ches, we entered and decided on scone and tea. Get that, one scone? Ches cut it in half and then we each halved that. The question, clotted cream first or the raspberry jam. Cornwall or Devon? I thought why not jam on one half and cream on the other and then put them together. I hadn't thought that through to the conclusion. I may be the first to eat a scone with a spoon.

Ches says that our visit to Chedworth was one of the highlights so far. She loves ruins of abbeys, castles and roman sites. These are similar to the ones near Chichester that we visited around 5 years ago. The buildings were formed in a U shape, running down the hill. This meant that the building at the far back had views down over the valley below. It housed the dining room and most of the entertainment rooms, and therefore has the finest mosaics. Consequently, this section has had a building constructed over it and temperature and humidity controlled. They have an audio enhancement in the form of people having a conversation over dinner.

I guess there aren't many who want to embark on a detailed archaeological discourse here. I'll just say, there was a recent dig for the TV programme "Digging for Britain". It revealed a mosaic that was dated to the 5th Century, the only 5C ever found in Britain. The significance of this is that whoever lived here remained after the Romans withdrew from Britain in the 4th century. I guess that after four hundred years of occupation by "Romans", they had integrated into the local society and many of them weren't Italian Romans anyway. AND, when you say, withdrawn from Britain, it only means that Rome withdrew its armies and administration. There had been four hundred years of their soldiers retiring and being given grants of land in Britain.

As to who owned this villa, who knows. Initially a senior Roman official? Perhaps a local chieftain who collaborated with the Romans and took on their culture? Who's to say it stayed in the same family for four hundred years. Whatever, it was amazing that it continued to be maintained and remodelled for that long.

The thing that always astonishes me is how these sites then get buried by soil over the next thousand or so years. In one of the rooms, they have left the roots and stump of a tree that had grown over the villa. The woodland had grown down the hill over the villa and was only discovered in the mid-1800s when bits of mosaic were found on the surface.

In the "room" next door, they have allowed wildflowers to grow. Scattered among them were vivid magenta pinky red wild orchids. Small and stunning.

Toward the end of our visit, I saw a guy wearing a Rabbitohs cap. I remarked "That hat's a long way from home? They were a couple from Glenbrook on an eight-week holiday with just a week or so to go. A brief conversation about "The Voice" and then they were to begin a guided tour, so we left.

Onward to Kington where we are booked into an apartment built into a 14th Century barn. Hang on, were both more than a little peckish and we've made egg sandwiches for lunch. Let's try and find somewhere in Yanworth.

We found a walled park with great views. Sadly, the breeze drove us back to our car after five minutes; half a sandwich left. I took a few photos and then we drove down the hill and parked on the side of the road to finish lunch.

For the next 30 miles, it was a series of roundabouts every couple of miles. Two roundabouts within 100 metres of each other are "handcuffs". Seriously! Red roads on Google maps way out here in Herefordshire?

We decided to drive directly into Kington. We only need the basics such as bread, butter, milk, but I need cough medicine. Not a problem. We can handle Kington. As for our apartment, that's another matter. Tight staircase to the loft bedroom, instructions on not to intrude on the neighbours parking spaces, "remember to bring your own towels". Seriously an Airbnb where you have to supply your own towels.

We're going to have to make this work for four nights.