Bradford-on-Avon, England - April 1st to 2nd, 2025
Bradford-on-Avon was supposed to be where we boarded the narrow boat for our canal cruise on Wednesday, but the starting location changed for our cruise. However, we had already booked one night in Bradford-on-Avon for Tuesday night, so we decided to keep it and take a train on Wednesday to the new location. We are so glad we did, because Bradford-on-Avon turned out to be a cute little village worth exploring for the 24 hours we were there.
Our train ride from Exeter to Bradford-on-Avon was not a direct route, so we needed to switch trains in Westbury. It was only a six minute transfer, so we were a little concerned that we might miss our connection. However, it worked out perfectly. Our train into Westbury was on time and our next train was already sitting in the station, just on the other side of the platform. So we walked straight out of one train and directly onto the other train. Easy peasy.
We had assigned seat reservations on the first train. It was a lovely train, quiet and smooth, with comfortable seats and a little fold down table, similar to an airline seat, to put our laptop and iPad on. Lights above the seats indicated which seats were reserved. A person came down the aisle with a cart, selling drinks and snacks, similar to a plane. Some of the Great Western Railway (GWR) trains have free Wifi and this was one of them. It wasn’t the best wifi in the world, but it was better than using a cell signal that would drop in and out.
When we exited the train in Bradford-on-Avon, there was no gate to scan our tickets when exiting. Now we understand why they also scan the tickets on the train. We originally thought that was a little redundant if you always have to scan when entering the platform and scan again when exiting. Apparently, not all train stations have gates when you exit.
Our hotel, Timbrell’s Yard, in Bradford-on-Avon was just a three minute walk from the train station. We checked in around 15:30 (3:30 pm) and made dinner reservations for 6 pm. That gave us some time to walk around town before dinner. Bradford-on-Avon had a booming textile industry during the 17th and 18th centuries. Timbrell’s Yard was originally called St. Margaret’s House from the 17th century, the house of one of the local dye works owners.
We wandered around aimlessly for an hour or so. The main road through town, the B3107, was a constant stream of noisy vehicles. However, all of the other streets were pretty void of traffic and quite peaceful.
We started out walking alongside the River Avon over to the Barton Bridge near the medieval Tithe Barn of Barton Farm. We crossed the bridge and meandered among the streets on the other side of the river. By the time we wound our way back to the hotel, it was time for dinner.
The food at Timbrell’s Yard was amazing. They had creative dishes which were excellently prepared. For starters, Keith had marinated olives while Ann had a roasted carrot baba ganoush with dukkah. Baba ganoush is a dip usually made with eggplant. Dukkah is a Middle Eastern condiment consisting of herbs, nuts, and spices.
Dessert was dark chocolate cheesecake with rhubarb & ginger compote along with Ivy House cream for Ann. Keith’s was the sticky apple, pear & ginger crumble with coconut sorbet. Ivy House is a nearby dairy farm in Beckington. It was the best meal we’ve had so far this season.
Our room was very cozy, but it had everything we needed. There was even a heated towel rack in the bathroom.
In fact, most of the hotel rooms so far in England have had heated towel bars. We liked that, not so much for having warm towels, but for drying our hand wash faster, especially our thick hiking socks.
Wednesday morning we went with a light breakfast again, even though breakfast was included with the room. We took a cold breakfast from the table, yogurt, housemade granola, fresh fruit, marmalade, and croissants. The croissants were wonderful, very flakey and a little crispy on the outside. The waitress said they don’t make the croissants there, but they do bake them fresh every morning.
Bradford-on-Avon was where we were supposed to originally board the narrowboat hotel, the Takara. However, flooding had caused Takara to change the cruise itinerary, so we needed to get to Banbury to pick up the boat there. Our train didn’t leave Bradford-on-Avon until afternoon, so we went for a walk in the morning.
We walked along the River Avon all the way to the village of Avoncliff. The Avoncliff Aqueduct is right at the village. The Kennet and Avon canal crosses over the River Avon on the aqueduct. There were quite a few narrowboats moored along the canal and one traveled over aqueduct while we were there.
We walked back to Avon, stopping to check out the willow labyrinth along the way. The labyrinth was cute, but not something we would recommend going out of your way to see. Several scullers rowed by us on the river.
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the medieval Tithe Barn to check out the inside. It opened at 10 am and was free to visit. A Tithe Barn is where they stored rents and tithes. During the Middle Ages, farmers were required to pay one-tenth of their produce to the established church. It was paid not in cash, but in actual produce.
Then we sat down at the Little Barn Cafe for a honey rose latte and a yogurt and berry flapjack. A flapjack is similar to an energy or cereal bar, with the main ingredient being rolled oats.
After checking out of the hotel, we sat at the outside patio for about hour before walking over to the train station.
We love having no expectations of a place and being pleasantly surprised by what we discover. Bradford-on-Avon was one of those little gems that really wasn’t on our radar ahead of time. We’ll look back on our short visit there fondly.
Check out our related video: Bradford-on-Avon, England
(Ann)