Walking off Sunday lunch... we tried anyway

We had lunch with my host's sister and brother in law, (Roast turkey breast, steamed and roast veg, blackberry and apple crumble to follow, YUM) Of course I ate too much. Then we set off for the wilds(!) of the Cotswolds for a ramble up hill and down dale, across farms, through copses and woods, down country lanes (watch for cars!), through farmyards - for 3 1/2 hours! Five layers was enough to keep me warm (thin layers, that is) with a woolly scarf and the hood of my jacket up on the windy ridges. It was a lovely fine day, the wind across the tops was icy - well I am from the winterless north, anything under 10 degrees is freezing, isn't it?
We saw views across the Vale of Evesham (look it up!), the Malverns (they are volcanic in origin but very worn down to hills), not mountains. We also walked along bridle paths, across farm rights of way, among ewes and lambs, spotting pheasants, crows, tits and robins. Daffodils, bluebells, wood anemomes, lilacs. Rabbits too of course. Not forgetting the sturdy cotswold stone houses and cottages, mostly slate roofed, very few thatched. They are apparently very good for keeping a menagerie, thatched roofs, that is, mostly very undesirable as pets, unfortunately.
England is certainly a countryside shaped by the hand of man, over millennia the fields have been tilled, fertilised and harvested, surely most of the trees have been either planted by man or nurtured for the benefit of that all powerful creature. New Zealand, only lived in by man for about 600 years, first by indigenous Maori and then by settlers from this part of the world, is comparatively untouched.
Today we tiki-toured around more of the Cotswolds, to Painswick to see St Mary's Church which has 99 Yews in its Churchyard, all trimmed to shape, none the same, some pairs formed into archways over the paths. We had lunch at the Butchers Arms, and old favourite pub, more lovely grub, and passable coffee. Pics here http://www.panoramio.com/m/photo/51292849. We got lost on the way back to Cheltenham, while trying to avoid Gloucester and the trust maps app in my iphone found us again and directed our wheels onto the right road again. It's a merveilleuse device.