Locked down… again…

Apologies for the lack of updates recently! On the 5th January (Happy New Year!), England went into yet another national Coronavirus ‘lockdown’, so Go Cotswolds is still not able to resume our fantastic guided tours of the Cotswolds. *Sad face*

But we’re trying not to get too down about it!

Using our time wisely

Despite the lockdown, our 3-year-old daughter Zoe is still able to attend her preschool. This is great news for us because it means that, as well as life carrying on relatively normally for our small person, Tom and I are getting plenty of time to work on relaunching Go Cotswolds.

As well as working with our web development team to build a new, more user-friendly website design, we have also enlisted the help of a marketing consultant, who is helping us to develop a new strategy that, we hope, will help us to get ‘bums back on seats’ in 2021 and beyond.

I’ve also been continuing our social media postings – so if you’re not already following us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, then please do interact with us – we love to hear from our followers!

But it hasn’t been all work and no play…

No prizes for food photography, but we’re eating our way around the British Isles! Top to bottom, left to right: Lancashire Hotpot; Haggis, Neeps & Tatties; Cullen Skink; Boxty; Toad in the Hole; Welsh Rarebit; Glamorgan Sausages; and Irish Stew. Yum.

We usually take a family holiday in January, though COVID-19 has obviously put a halt on any travel this year. Instead, we’ve decided to learn how to cook famous national dishes and eat our way around the world!

We started our culinary journey in the British Isles, with delicious meals such as Lancashire Hotpot and Toad in the Hole for England, Rarebit and Glamorgan sausages for Wales, Irish stew and Boxty (potato pancakes) for Ireland. A first for us as non-Scots, we also had our very own Burn’s Night on 25th January, preparing and eating Cullen Skink (smoked haddock and potato soup) and the traditional haggis, neeps and tatties!

Tom and I both love running, so – in the absence of having much else to do, and as a counter to all the delicious food we’ve been making! – we have both signed up to complete a virtual Land’s End to John O’Groats running challenge. We’re both aiming to run a total of 874 miles in a year, the distance between Land’s End in Cornwall (the most southerly point of the UK) and John O’ Groats in Scotland (the most northerly point). At the time of writing, I have just crossed into Devon from Cornwall, while Tom has stormed ahead into Somerset (he’s a much faster runner than me!).

Tom has also taken up cycling, hoping to encourage our Zoe to gain confidence on the shiny new pedal bike she got from Father Christmas.

So when will Go Cotswolds be open again?

In truth, we still don’t know for sure, but here at Go Cotswolds, we’re aiming for 2nd April 2021 as a tentative relaunch date.

The Prime Minister has indicated that some restrictions could be eased from 8th March, but it may yet be some weeks before tourism (the very definition of ‘non-essential travel’!) can resume.

Can I book a Go Cotswolds tour?

Yes! We currently have tickets on sale for dates on and after 2nd April. If we need to cancel any tours because of ongoing restrictions, we have a full COVID-19 refund policy, so there’s nothing to lose.

You can also buy gift vouchers for our tours – with Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Easter coming up, why not treat your loved ones to the promise of a fun day out in the Cotswolds when travel is allowed again?