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Local Cotswold
Events and Attractions
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One of the delights of the Cotswolds is to meander around the villages with
little fixed purpose,
but there are a host of houses and gardens to visit, neolithic remains galore,
and outdoor sports both traditional and modern.
There are also ample opportunities for that most tiring of sports: shopping -
particularly for antiques. | |
Local Events -
May 2008
Monday 12th May: Old Rectory, Duntisbourne Rous garden open (NGS),
11.00am-5.00pm
Tuesday 13th -Saturday 24th May:
Chipping
Campden Music Festival
Sunday 18th May: Stowell Park garden open (NGS) 2.00-5.00pm
Friday 23rd - Saturday 24th May: Music in Country Churches, Northleach
Monday 26th May: Rare plants sale, Stone House, Wyck Rissington,
10.00am-2.00pm, £5.00
Local Events - June 2008
Sunday 1st June: Guiting Power village gardens open,
2.00-6.00pm, £4.00
Sunday 15th June: Kemble Air Day, £25.00
Local Events - July 2008
Friday 25th - Sunday 27th July:
CLA 50th Anniversary
Game Fair, Blenheim Palace, £25 (Fri), £20 (Sat-Sun)
Regular Market Days
Cirencester Charter Market: Mondays and Fridays 8.30am - 3.00pm weekly
Moreton-in-Marsh: Tuesdays 8.00am - 2.00pm weekly
Northleach Charter Market: Wednesdays 8.30am - 2.30pm weekly
Antiques Markets
Cirencester Corn Hall: Fridays 9.00am-3.00pm weekly. | |
Click
here
to review the National Trust's Gloucestershire properties.
Our local favourites include:
Chedworth Roman Villa - the remains of one of the largest Romano-British villas in the country.
Open Tuesday-Sunday from 10.00am-5.00pm until 2nd November. Entrance
charge £6.30, but free for NT members. The drive up the Yanworth valley and
around Stowell's perimeter is almost more magical than the Roman Villa.
Sherborne Lodge Park
– Lodge Park
was built in 1634 as a deer coursing grandstand for the Duttons, but after a
series of alterations and simplifications over the years was of no architectural
interest until NT renovation in the 1990s. The grandstand sits within the
4,000 acre Sherborne Estate of rolling Cotswold countryside with views
down to the River Windrush. Sherborne Park itself, however, was converted into
apartments after the estate was given to the Trust in 1982. The grandstand
should be open 11.00am-4.00pm Friday-Sunday only until 2nd November, but
sometimes is unaccountably closed. £5.00 entrance charge for the grandstand is
not great value, but walks in the Estate are always accessible and free.
Hidcote Manor Garden - one of
England’s greatest gardens, an ‘Arts & Crafts’ masterpiece created by Major
Lawrence Johnston. Open Monday-Wednesday and Saturday-Sunday
10.00am-6.00pm until 1st October and then 10.00am-5.00pm until 2nd November, but
note that weekends and Bank Holidays can be very busy, so a visit after 3pm may
be more enjoyable! Entrance worth every penny of £8.50, but free for NT
members.
Snowshill Manor – the former home of eccentric Victorian compulsive
collector Charles Paget Wade. A small but appropriately eclectic house, recently
renovated in "NT Classic" style. Open Wednesday-Sunday from 12noon-5.00pm until
2nd November. Timed tickets threatened but rare. Not a bargain at
£7.30 - free for NT members.
Chastleton House (actually in neighbouring Oxfordshire) - one of England’s finest
Jacobean houses in continuous family ownership for 400 years until its acquisition by the Trust
in 1991. Open Wednesday-Saturday 1.00pm-5.00pm only until 30th September
and then 1.00pm-4.00pm until 2nd November. Entrance charge £7.00, but free
for NT members. Entry by advance booked timed ticket only (01608 674981)
but worth the hassle. | |
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English Heritage maintains a range of local ruins and remains.
We find
the oldest and closest the most rewarding!
Notgrove Long Barrow - a
Neolithic burial mound right on our
doorstep (well, 2 miles!)
Belas Knap Long Barrow - a good example of a Neolithic long barrow.
Cirencester Amphitheatre – a
large, well-preserved, earth-covered Roman amphitheatre.
Hailes Abbey - Cistercian abbey
founded in 1246 that fell into ruins after dissolution.
Odda's Chapel - Anglo-Saxon chapel attached to a half-timbered farmhouse.
Uley Long Barrow (Hetty Pegler's Tump) - an unusual chambered burial mound dating
from about 3000BC. | |
Other historic houses, gardens and local sites
Although now pretty
much all in full swing for Spring and Summer we still recommend that you
check their websites to confirm opening days and
hours before setting off for any of these houses and gardens below.
Bourton House Garden - an
impressive, but still domestically-scaled garden in Bourton-on-the-Hill (not
"on-the-Water") developed with dedication and flair since 1983 by Richard and
Monique Paice. Open on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from the end of May
until the end of August, then Thursdays and Fridays in September and October.
Also Bank Holiday weekend Sundays and Monday. 10.00am-5.00pm. Entrance: £5.50. (Easy
to combine with a visit to Sezincote, see below.)
Misarden Park Gardens - Beautiful herbaceous borders, shrubs and stunning
topiary in the garden of this house owned by the Wills family since 1913. Open
Tuesday-Thursday 10.00am-4.30pm from April until September and with a very
useful adjoining nursery for plant sales. Entrance: £4.00.
Colesbourne Park -
the Elweses' are snowdrop cultivators extraordinaire
and their gardens are consequently open in snowdrop season only...so, with the
exception of the Arboretum Weekend 27th-28th September, it will not be until
February 2009 that they open again! Entrance:
£6.00.
Sudeley
Castle - a Victorian glovemaker's re-creation of a castle on this historic
site previously destroyed by Cromwell. Gardens open 10.30am-5.00pm from the end of March until
the end of October. Entrance: £7.20 but free for HHA members. "Connoisseur"
tours of the castle are run every
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 11.00am, 1.00pm & 3.00pm for £15.00 per
person, but include the garden entrance charge (and a guide book!)
Alternatively, there are "Historical Garden" tours on Monday and Fridays also at
11.00am, 1.00pm & 3.00pm for £11.00 per person. Although under "new and
dynamic" management, there seems to be limited appreciation at Sudeley for the
advantages of simplicity.
Sezincote
- great gardens surrounding a fascinating manor house in
the Regency Indian style, lavishly restored in the Kleinworts' ownership since 1944.
House and gardens open on Thursdays, Fridays
& Bank Holiday Monday afternoons 2.00pm-6.00pm from May until September
(and garden remains open until November.) Entrance: Garden - £5.00, House
- £8.00 (including garden.) No children in house, no dogs in garden.
Stanway House - opening
hours are as eccentric as its owner, Lord Neidpath but basically Tuesday and
Thursday afternoons from June until August. Stanway's Jacobean gatehouse of mellow
Cotswold stone, highly personal house and slightly surprising fountain makes it
our favourite house in the whole of Britain. Entrance: £6.00.
Kelmscott
Manor - the country home of William Morris, now owned by the Society of
Antiquaries and containing a collection of William Morris furniture, textiles &
ceramics (the house is open 11.00am-5.00pm on Wednesdays and 2.00pm-5.00pm
some Saturday afternoons from
April until September.) A hefty £8.50 entrance fee - designed to deter
the casual visitor, we suspect.
Painswick
Rococo Gardens - a fascinating recreation of the mid-eighteenth century
Rococo style of gardening. Gradually and lovingly restored since 1984 by the Dickinsons
and open daily 11.00am-5.00pm until 31st October. Entrance: £5.50.
Kiftsgate Court Gardens
- a garden developed by three generations of Muir women since the 1920s, most
notably Diana Binny, set on
the Cotswold escarpment and renowned for its use of colour. Right next door
to Hidcote (see NT properties above.) Open Sunday, Monday & Wednesday
afternoons in March, April, August and September, Saturday-Wednesday from May to July
(ie, not Thursday and Friday). Entrance: £6.00.
Westonbirt
Arboretum – 600 acre arboretum with one of the finest collections of
temperate trees in the world, run by the Forestry Commission. Open 9.00am-8.00pm
(or dusk if earlier) from 1st March.
Entrance: £7.00.
Batsford
Arboretum - 50 acre arboretum containing over 1,500 trees, established in
the 1880s by the Redesdale family and home to the Mitford girls during the Great
War. The arboretum was considerably developed under the Wills family's
ownership between the 1960s and the 1980s, recycling the tobacco fortune
organically in a sense, before being turned over to the charitable Batsford
Foundation in 1984. Open daily 10.00am. Entrance: £6.00.
Cotswold
Motoring Museum (Bourton-on-the-Water) – run by the Civil Service Motoring
Association contains
a substantial toy collection in addition to the main motor-car exhibition.
Open 10.00am-6.00pm daily from mid-February until early December. Entrance: £3.60.
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Theatre
 Royal
Shakespeare Company - We are very lucky to be so close to Shakespeare's
birthplace in the beautiful town of Stratford-upon Avon (30 miles or 48km -
about a 40 minute drive.)
The new "Merchant of Venice" is playing at the Courtyard Theatre and goes turn
and turn about until September 2008 with "The Taming of the Shrew" and Gregory Doran's new
production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
Tickets for all RSC performances can be booked directly through their
website.
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 We
are about the same distance from Oxford as from Stratford-upon-Avon and the
Oxford
Playhouse has become a regular stopping point for touring productions in
recent years.
In May we can see productions of Ibsen's "A Doll's House", a new
take on Moliere's "School for Wives" by Theatre Babel "Educating Agnes", Dion
Boucicault's stylish romantic comedy "London Assurance" and a student production
of Wedekind's "Spring Awakening". Diversity indeed.
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 Founded
as the New Theatre & Opera House in 1891, Cheltenham's re-christened
Everyman
Theatre returned to its roots as a touring theatre in 1995.
May sees
an Agatha Christie "And Then There Were None" and a Shared Experience
Company produciton of Tolstoy's "War & Peace". | |
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National Hunt Racing
The home of National Hunt racing
The Festival survived the gales and
the remaining fixtures for 2008 are below.
| Hunter Chase Evening |
Wednesday 7th May 2008
(evening) |
| The Showcase |
Friday 17th - Saturday 18th
October |
| The Open |
Friday 14th - Sunday 16th
November |
| Boylesports International |
Friday 12th - Saturday 13th
December |
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Polo
The oldest polo club in Britain is based at
Cirencester Park, holding match fixtures from May to September and a great picnic excuse.
£10.00 per car in May and September, £15.00 per car from June until August.
Further South at Westonbirt, just outside Tetbury, the
Beaufort
Polo Club holds fixtures from
late April until September under the leadership of Simon and Claire Tomlinson.
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Cycling
If you fancy a spin, then we have a couple of bicycles that you're welcome
to use. | |
Walking
The Cotswolds are excellent walking territory. Two long-distance
paths pass through Turkdean:
Macmillan Way
The Chedworth-Bourton section of this 290-mile path runs directly past the
cottage as part of its long course from Boston on the Lincolnshire coast to
Abbotsbury in Dorset. Peter Titchmarsh's eponymously-entitled walking
guide 'The Macmillan Way' and the supplemental 48-page 'Cross-Cotswold
Pathway' and 12-page Cotswold Link' pamphlets are all available (for £9.00,
£3.50 and £1.65 respectively) from the
Macmillan Way
Association.
North Cotswold Diamond Way
This beautiful circular 60-mile route created by the North Cotswold Ramblers
Association in 1995 also passes through Turkdean on its
Notgrove-Hazleton-Turkdean-Hampnett section.
Elizabeth Bell's excellent Ramblers Association handbook 'North Cotswold
Diamond Way - 30 Sparkling Short Walks' maps the course of this path in 30
shorter walks. Two of these beautiful 2-3 hour walks run right through
Turkdean. Available from
amazon.co.uk for £6.99 plus postage and a rather strange £1.99 "sourcing
fee" (although we have a copy of this at the cottage too!)
In addition, four further long-distance paths pass close to Turkdean - close
enough to make a walking detour, or of course, you may prefer to have us come
and pick you up in the car!
Gloucestershire
Way
 This 100-mile long walk from Chepstow to Stow-on-the-Wold and then on up and
back to Tewkesbury passes through Notgrove, just 2 miles North of us in
Turkdean. In addition there is a really special detour that can take you
via a secret valley all the way to Turkdean if you turn South on to a footpath
at Farhill Farm between Salperton and Notgrove. Alternatively, as the
Gloucestershire Way crosses the road at Notgrove, turn South to Turkdean, or
give us a call!
Gerry Stewart's detailed walking guide 'The Gloucestershire Way' is available
for £5.95 with free postage direct from its publishers
Countryside Matters.
Monarch's Way
 This path follows the course of Charles II's 1651 escape from England after
the Battle of Worcester. Some 80-odd miles of its 610 miles total are in
Gloucestershire. Having stepped alongside the Macmillan Way from
Chedworth to Hampnett, the Monarch's Way heads East to Northleach, but
instead, why not continue along the route of the Macmillan Way for a further
three miles North from Hampnett until you come to Turkdean?
The second part of Trevor Antill's walking guide to the Monarch's Way,
covering the 210-mile section from Stratford-upon-Avon to Charmouth, is
available from
amazon.co.uk for £5.56 plus postage.
Windrush Way
The shorter 14-mile Windrush Way from Bourton-on-the-Water to Winchcombe can
be extended by 4-5 miles rather nicely either by turning South on to the North
Cotswold Diamond Way at Aylworth and then heading down past Notgrove to
Turkdean itself, or by turning South on to the Gloucestershire Way at Aston
Farm to pass through Cold Aston and Notgrove en route to Turkdean as above.
Heart of
England Way
This 100-mile route runs from Milford, near Stafford to Bourton-on-the-Water,
where we can pick you up and whisk you back to Turkdean by car for restorative
care. Alternatively, just short of Bourton you can turn South on to the
Macmillan Way at Lower Slaughter and head from there to Turkdean.
If on the other hand you fancy a shorter circular route from
Turkdean we have a range of beautiful routes linking us with Hazleton,
Salperton, Notgrove and Cold Aston on hidden paths and beautiful tracks. Maps,
sandwiches and pub directions all available! | | |
Daylesford
We are only about 12 miles from
Daylesford,
where Carole Bamford has created a little slice of retail heaven, combining
the organic delights of the most upmarket deli imaginable, a glorious cafe,
a splendid garden shop with truly epic topiary and 'The Haybarn' - a
full-blow spa that would not disgrace the most luxurious of hotels.
Tel +44 (0)1608 731 700 for the shop, or +44 (0)1608 731703 for the spa. | |
Arts
Cheltenham is the venue for a
range of arts festivals. Check out Cheltenham
Festivals.
| Jazz Festival |
29th April - 5th May
2008 |
| Science Festival |
4th - 8th June 2008 |
| Music Festival |
4th -19th July
2008 |
| Literature Festival |
10th -
19th October 2008 |
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Cirencester
Early Music Festival
The eighth
splendid celebration
of early music will take place between Wednesday 23rd and Saturday 26th July 2008
at venues including the Bingham Hall, the Bingham House Gallery, The Old Barn in
Upper Siddington and Westonbirt School. Events
for the 2008 festival includes a concert of music by Byrd, Tallis and Gibbons. |
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Longborough Festival Opera
 The
2008 season will open on 11th June with a new production of "La Traviata" and
include three performances of last season's "Das Rheingold" as well as a new
produciton of Janacek's "The Cunning Little Vixen."
This splendid festival was
established on the 'Glyndebourne' model by Martin and Lizzie
Graham in 1991 initially at Banks Fee, now in a converted barn at New Banks Fee - with black tie picnics in the beautiful gardens during the long interval. |
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Air Shows
Kemble
Air Day
Kemble Airfield - Sunday 15th June 2008 (Father's
Day too!)
Royal
International Air Tattoo
RAF Fairford Saturday 12th - Sunday 13th July 2008.
Gloucestershire Steam Extravaganza
Kemble Airfield Friday 1st - Sunday 3rd August 2008.
Not an air show, but included here because it is hosted at Kemble and includes a
vintage fly-in, although the main attraction is the extraordinary collection of
steam engines. |
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Antique Shops
The Cotswolds contains the finest selection of antique dealers outside London - with a particular concentration of dealers in Stow-in-the-Wold some 8 miles from
Turkdean.
Check out our page of favourite
local dealers. | | |
If this all sounds rather tiring go back
to our homepage
to see how you can recuperate. | |
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Yew Tree Cottage |
Turkdean | Northleach | CHELTENHAM |
Gloucestershire | GL54 3NT |
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