Cotswolds in mid March--a mistake?
Dec 5th, 2004, 11:02 AM
#2
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 6,873
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Yes - shops and pubs are open -- people do live there year round afterall.
Blenheim Palace won't be open yet but just about any other site will be.
As for weather -- absolutely no way of telling until about a week or less before your trip. Could be cool to warmish, could be freezing cold, could be clear, could be stormy, or could be all of the above.
Just take something waterproof and dress in layers -- that way you are ready for just about anything.
Blenheim Palace won't be open yet but just about any other site will be.
As for weather -- absolutely no way of telling until about a week or less before your trip. Could be cool to warmish, could be freezing cold, could be clear, could be stormy, or could be all of the above.
Just take something waterproof and dress in layers -- that way you are ready for just about anything.
Dec 5th, 2004, 12:04 PM
#4
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 17,268
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We don't do awful weather. Ever.
Awful weather is stuff that gives white people skin cancer, or causes city-threatening forest fires. The climate the poor souls in Australia or Provence have to put up with.
Awful weather is stuff that destroys cities and kills people - like Californians and Floridians.
Awful weather is a climate human beings can't live in without burning up an unsustainable amount of oil imported from the world's most unstable societies. The climate that sustains Houstonians.
Or a climate where blizzards close airports for days on end. Of which there is, in fairness, an outside chance here(we had a blizzard like that once in the late 19th century)
What you'll get is the sometimes damp, sometimes bracing, but always tolerable by all but the woosiest wimp,weather that's essential to produce some of the world's loveliest scenery. Which, since you're thinking of being herer on more or less the first day of spring, is virtually guaranteed.
As for shops and pubs...
This isn't some tourist trap. Tourism is a trivial part of the Cotswolds' economy, and declining in relative terms (it contributes less, for example, to the area's income than the construction of high-performance cars). Amazingly, we eat, drink, write books and harangue naive foreigners on web chatrooms in March, just as we do in December or July. And our fine publicans make sure our thirsts are met all year round.
What sort of place do you think you're visiting?
Awful weather is stuff that gives white people skin cancer, or causes city-threatening forest fires. The climate the poor souls in Australia or Provence have to put up with.
Awful weather is stuff that destroys cities and kills people - like Californians and Floridians.
Awful weather is a climate human beings can't live in without burning up an unsustainable amount of oil imported from the world's most unstable societies. The climate that sustains Houstonians.
Or a climate where blizzards close airports for days on end. Of which there is, in fairness, an outside chance here(we had a blizzard like that once in the late 19th century)
What you'll get is the sometimes damp, sometimes bracing, but always tolerable by all but the woosiest wimp,weather that's essential to produce some of the world's loveliest scenery. Which, since you're thinking of being herer on more or less the first day of spring, is virtually guaranteed.
As for shops and pubs...
This isn't some tourist trap. Tourism is a trivial part of the Cotswolds' economy, and declining in relative terms (it contributes less, for example, to the area's income than the construction of high-performance cars). Amazingly, we eat, drink, write books and harangue naive foreigners on web chatrooms in March, just as we do in December or July. And our fine publicans make sure our thirsts are met all year round.
What sort of place do you think you're visiting?
Dec 5th, 2004, 04:17 PM
#7
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 897
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We spent a week in Chipping Campden in late Feb. Certainly needed to wear our coats but we're from Canada so was no big deal. Was lovely to travel about without the hordes of tourists/tour buses and many of the pubs had lovely wood fires on the go.
Did lots of shopping and it seems to me that there were a number of estates open - you could check on the national trust website (www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/) or british heritage for times. The national trust has a search function on their page where you can enter dates you are there and they tell you what's open. I did a quick check and Baddesley Clinton and Packwood House (both not far from Warwick Castle which is always open), Charlecote Park (close to Stratford - and I think the Shakespearan properties are virtually always open, too), Hidcote Manor Garden and Snowshill Manor are open March 1.
And as flanneruk says, you'll get a rare chance to enjoy a beautiful part of the country off-season, and see what the local residents get up too when not driven undergound by tourists.
Did lots of shopping and it seems to me that there were a number of estates open - you could check on the national trust website (www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/) or british heritage for times. The national trust has a search function on their page where you can enter dates you are there and they tell you what's open. I did a quick check and Baddesley Clinton and Packwood House (both not far from Warwick Castle which is always open), Charlecote Park (close to Stratford - and I think the Shakespearan properties are virtually always open, too), Hidcote Manor Garden and Snowshill Manor are open March 1.
And as flanneruk says, you'll get a rare chance to enjoy a beautiful part of the country off-season, and see what the local residents get up too when not driven undergound by tourists.
Dec 5th, 2004, 05:42 PM
#8
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,042
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I was in the Cotswolds and surrounding area March 9-16, 2000. Weather was OK - in fact it was warmer in England than it was when I left Phoenix! Just take a coat and a long sleeve shirt and you should be ok.
We just had a few sprinkles on the day we went to see the Championship Hurdle horse race at Cheltenham. We were outside for probably 5 hours that day and weren't bothered by the weather.
We just had a few sprinkles on the day we went to see the Championship Hurdle horse race at Cheltenham. We were outside for probably 5 hours that day and weren't bothered by the weather.
