Cotswold Tuk Tuk Tours May 2018 Blog
Whoooooops sorry to all my blog followers that it’s a bit late this month. An early summer break in Kefalonia (beautiful relaxed island) on a family holiday and straight into the jobs on my return were the reasons for this. The weather finally picked up during May and we have now had a tour with the covers off at last. Let’s hope there are plenty more of these as the 2018 Tuk season gets into full flow. As always the British weather plays a key part in the Tuk tours as there’s no telling what each day will bring and boy did it play a part on Thursday 31st May!!
We had booked a late morning flight home on the 30th May in the hope of getting back to the Cotswolds late afternoon as I knew I had 3 days of tours lined up. What I forgot to take into consideration was those lovely air traffic controllers (bless them!!) who decided that they would have a bit of a go slow as it was peak half term so we ended up getting back home close to midnight with some extremely tired kids.
The next day proved to be a real adventure! It was up at 6 o’clock preparing the Tuk and I had a look at the weather forecast which was saying rain by lunchtime, so on went the covers. I picked up a wonderful American couple and we started on the all day tour of the Cotswolds. They were staying in Upper Oddington so after picking them up at 09:30 we went through Stow, onto Rollright Stones, Moreton in Marsh (quick trip to Martha’s), onto Chipping Campden, then onto Broadway Tower where surprisingly the sun was still shining and where we were met by the lovely ladies from Mr’s D’s who served up another fantastic afternoon tea, which was taken picnic style overlooking the beautiful views. After this they climbed the tower and we then climbed back on the Tuk and went down into the village of Broadway for another stop. After this it was up to Snowshill followed by Upper and then Lower Slaughter. By this time it was just after 18:00 and the sky went black! It was as if it had held back raining all day and then it all came down in one go, it absolutely chucked it down. We travelled into Bourton on the Water for the last stop of the day and after parking up in one of the many vacant parking spots we all sat outside De La Hayes and enjoyed a fantastic Fish & Chip supper whilst the rain was streaming off the umbrellas in torrents and the thunder and lightning was getting louder and more regular. However we all climbed back onto Rick and he safely got us back to Upper Oddington and then finally got me back to base. The rain covers were well and truly tested so thanks very much to Neil who has made absolutely the best rain covers available.
Throughout the month there were several other tours using both the Tea Set in Broadway and Mr’s D’s Vintage Teas so can I say another big thank you for the excellent service from some very satisfied customers.
One really pleasing tour for me was from a customer who got recommended by someone who had a tour last year. They just choose to have the very same exact tour even with lunch in the same pub. Again thoroughly enjoyed so thanks to the staff at the Swan @Swinbrook.
So now we are in June we are keeping a close eye on Snowshill Lavender fields looking at when it’s going to be in full bloom so we can do both bespoke tours and also add it onto some of the afternoon tea express tours and the full day tours.
The wedding season was due to kick off in July but just in the last couple of weeks I had had 2 somewhat unusual bookings. Both are on the same date in June with the first booking being part of an Indian wedding ceremony carrying the groom whilst 450+people dance around the Tuk. I hope to be allowed to have some great photos to share on the website. After that it’s home to clean to Tuk ready for an evening of carrying guests from one of the famous castles in our area to their hotels and B&B’s in the local village. This really is a great way to start the wedding season.
And what a great future the Tuk’s have as we have another 8 confirmed wedding dates and 2 more viewings this week. So if you are thinking of it, don’t delay as dates are going fast.
Loads of people continue to come and have a chat whenever I’m out and it’s great to think that either Rick or myself are very interesting (some even think we both are) so please do come over and have a chat if you see us out and about.
Don’t forget the limited special offer tours that are on offer for the Snowshill Lavender and the Fish & Chip evening specials. Many people have found that the 5 hour tour is a great session and therefore 09.30-14.30 is proving a popular slot for future bookings but we are totally flexible to your requirements.
Prom season is upon us and we have very limited Friday night prom availability - the Tuk is a fun and quirky way to travel to end of year proms/balls…great for a group of friends.
Check out the website for all the details of everything on offer! Join us on Instagram and Facebook and don’t forget to keep waving.
Chris
