Just become a Landscape Ambassador for the Cotswolds and the North Wessex Downs

Join our guided walks and learn more about the countryside through which you walk.

Anne
Walk the Landscape

Signs of spring in the Cotswolds

Things are looking up.  The cold weather and icy winds of winter are still hanging on, but despite this there are cheerful signs of spring wherever you look.

Snowdrops blooming under trees, in hedgerows and in churchyards.  

Snowdrops have been cultivated since the middle ages and are associated with abbeys and churchyards as they are a symbol of the Catholic festival of Candlemas.  They are normally flowering  on 2nd February when Candlemas is celebrated and they are looking particularly fine this year.

A robin collecting material his or her their nest.

(male and female look the same)

According to folklore it is said that when Jesus was crucified on the cross, a robin flew down and removed a thorn from the crown on his head and sang to him, thus relieving his suffering.  The blood of Jesus stained his throat and chest, and ever since his breast has remained red.

 Lambs appearing in the fields.

These babies are sticking close to mum where there is always a constant supply of food.

Mum is a type of sheep known as a 'mule' and is a crossbreed between a hardy upland ewe and a lowland ram.

Best

Anne

A hidden backwater of the River Thames at Radcot Bridge

The willow tree branches have such fascinating shapes.

Happy hiking

Anne

Cotswold Country Houses: History and Grandeur along the Trail

Scattered through the Cotswolds are fine country mansions, manor houses and there is even a palace. Our network of public footpaths, which date from ancient times, often pass very close to them and here are some of the historic houses next to our routes.

Chastleton House

Chastleton House is a Jacobean country house built between 1607 and 1612.  It was built by Walter Jones, a wealthy lawyer and wool merchant, with no expense spared.  But the family were Royalists during the English Civil War (1642-1651) and in the 18^th century they supported the Jacobite cause, which aimed to restore a Stuart king to the throne removing the Hanoverian dynasty.  As a result the family was heavily fined for its political views.  Subsequently, their fortunes did not improve and when the National Trust took the house over in 1991, the interior was much the same as it had been in the 1612.  It remains so today, as the National Trust have done only essential repairs, thus retaining the unique 17^th century atmosphere.

Our guided and self-guided day walk, ‘Adlestrop: Where for a moment a blackbird sang’ passes Chastleton House, and the house is open to the public on Wednesday to Sunday afternoon from early March to the end of October.

Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Palace is the sumptuous home of the Dukes of Malborough.  The estate together with funds to build the palace were given to John Churchill, 1^st Duke of Malborough, by Queen Anne and parliament, who were grateful for his victory over Louis XIV of France on 13 August 1704 at the Battle of Blenheim.  John Churchill went on to win other battles in the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714) and the palace is a memorial to him and his military victories.
  

Set in a country estate, the view of the house and lake was described by Randolph Churchill as ‘The finest view in England’ to his future wife on her first visit.   Their son, Sir Winston Churchill(1864-1965) was born there and he is buried in the churchyard at Bladon, next to the estate.

We can arrange a short break of walks in and around Woodstock and Blenheim Palace. Walkers along Shakespeare’s Way and the Oxfordshire Way pass through the estate getting magnificent views of the lake and palace beyond.  The palace is open daily from mid-February to mid-December.

Sezincote House

Sezincote House, which lies on the spring line at the eastern side of the North Cotswolds, was designed in the “Indian Style”, by the architect, Samuel Pepys Cockerell in 1805.  The gardens were designed by Humphrey Repton, the eminent horticulturalist who is considered the last of the great British landscape gardeners.  When the Prince Regent visited the house in 1807 he admired the unique combination of Hindu and Muslim architecture, and it is said that it influenced the design of his exotic oriental retreat, the Brighton Pavilion.

Our ‘Classic Cotswold’ tour passes Sezincote on the routes from Moreton-in-Marsh and Chipping Campden to Stow-on-the-Wold.

Abbotswood House

Abbotswood is a lovely country house near Stow-on-the-Wold.  The estate dates back to 1253, but the current house was built in 1867.   Shortly afterwards it was remodelled and enlarged in 1902 by Edwin Lutyens, the eminent British architect who adapted traditional designs for modern day living.  Lutyens also designed the stunning gardens and these are open to the public in April when the rhododendrons in bloom and in October when the acers are in full autumn colour and at other times of the year – this photo was taken in mid-summer.  For people with deep pockets, the house together with the estate and 13 cottages was recently on the market for £30 million.

On our shortbreak based in Stow-on-the-Wold one of the walks passes through the estate.

Please contact Anne, to find out more or to book a walking holiday.

Happy hiking

Anne

Walk the Landscape

Visit Ancient Cotswold Churches Steeped In History

On your walking tour through Cotswold towns and villages take the opportunity to visit ancient churches  

These historic buildings are steeped in history and are often the oldest building in the town or village, some dating back to before the Norman Conquest in 1066.

St Eadburga's church, Broadwayy.  This 12th century church is dedicated to St Eadburgha, the grand-daughter of Alfred the Great.  The legend goes that as a child, her father King Edward, tested her faith and when offered the choice of a gift of jewels or a bible, she chose the bible and subsequently dedicated her life to God's service. In the 19th century by a new building closer to the centre of the town, but St Eadburgha’s continued to be used in the summer, for special candlelit services over Christmas and for burial services.

Flower arrangement at St Nicholas, Oddington with the 14th century Doom painting on the wall behind.  Painted when most of the population could not read or write, when the service was in Latin, wall paintings told worshippers bible stories.  The Doom or Last Judgement painting shows God in Heaven with souls on their way to heaven on his right hand side and others on their way to hell on the left hand side. 

The chancel at St Michaels, Buckland, a beautiful small village church under the Cotswold edge.

St John the Baptist, Cirencester is one of the famous Cotswold ‘wool churches’.  In the middle ages, the fleeces of many thousands of sheep raised in the Cotswold were exported into Europe and the wool merchants in area became very rich indeed.   In the 15^th century some of this wealth was used to rebuild parish churches in grand style and the church as Cirencester is one such.    

Happy Hiking

Anne