England in March
 

DH and I are making plans to visit our daughter in London middle of next month. We would like to spend a week touring with daughter by train or car. As usual, after reading many threads, the places I would like to go would take months! I have only been there once before -- in London in December and this time would like to see some of the countryside. I am not concerned about weather but would like to know if country will be green and pretty? nicer in south than in north? Should we stick to cities -- Kent, Bath, etc. or would driving scenic areas make sense this time of year? Hope to return in near future to see more.
Thanks for any help. I love this forum!
Susan4

It's green here all the time these days, except in midsummer since grazing, setaside and winter wheat make a huge proportion of fields green even in the winter. (Setaside is the EU scheme for discouraging agricultural use of land, so a very large proportion of fields are is used for purposes - like stud farming - that don't involve ploughing) Mid-March is really too early for deciduous leaves to be out anywhere, but hedgerows are typically highly diverse, and there's a lot of shrubs around, so there's a lot of greenery even apart from the fields.

All that stuff in English novels about bleak winters was either written during the Little Ice Age (which stopped around 1850) or comes from intellectually lazy townies who regard Highbury Fields as the rural north.

Mid March might be a bit early for roadside flowers, though everything - at least in central and southern England - is so bizarrely ahead this year even they may be beginning to pop out by then (in the Cotswolds, most daffs are showing a bit of yellow, and we've had celandine since just after New Year's Day). The country won't be as spectacularly floral as in mid-May, but it'll be a lot more bracing and I'd say it's a really good time to be out of the towns.

Obviously things get more ahead the further south you go, But there'll be green shoots practically everywhere that's not a mountain. The Peak District is extremely pretty in mid-March for example.

To most questions on this board, it's against my religion to say "you'll have a great time" since that's ill-mannered presumption (How can anyone have the foggiest idea what will appeal to someone else?). But, if you'll forgive the presumption, you're all very likely to have an excellent time in the country.

Thank you. Any one else? How about the Cotswolds in March?

We went to England for 10 days in February two years ago and spent half of our time in the countryside. We loved it! Bath and the surrounding area are wonderful anytime and we had a great time exploring the Cotswolds, even without flowers. Grass was green and we were bundled up (in fact, we bought scarves before we set out on our hike). We hiked from Bourton-on-the-Water to Upper and Lower Slaughter and never saw another person along the path. It was so welcoming to have tea back in Bourton. I'm sure it's gorgeous in the warm weather, but there's something to be said to seeing it without "crowds." We also went to Stonehenge (not crowded, but windy and cold) and Avebury. You could spend a lot of time in Bath. There are tons of wonderful places to explore. Also recommend Castlecombe....one of the prettiest villages I've ever seen- empty when we were there. It was muddy and we were glad we brought our boots. You will have a great time.

Expect it to be a little busier in March as the Easter break looms in around the final week of the month. It will mean the kids are off school and although the movie theatres will be crowded with the little darlings throwing ice cubes and kicking the chairs of the person sitting in front, the selfsame young urchins will be accompanying their families on a Cotswold jaunt at some point in late March. So avoid Farm Parks, steer clear of Bourton on the Water with its maze, aviary, motor car museum, model railway and model village, give the Cotswold Wildlife Park in Burford a wide berth and stick to small country roads that won't be clogged up with the English equivelent of the Griswald family.
Here's a route that I used to do, pretty and relatively visitor free, even in summer. Start at Fairford, 14th century church, 28 mediaeval stained glass windows then follow the Coln valley via Quennington, Coln St Aldwyns, to Bibury for morning coffee at Arlington Mill, (may meet tourists here), onwards up the valley to Coln Rogers, Winson, Coln St Dennis, cross the Roman Fosse Way at Fossebridge then to Chedworth Roman villa for the afternoon (some kids may manifest themselves here) and finally to Withington for a meal in the Mill Inn, where in the beer garden the River Coln is now little more than a trickle.
All the above may lead you to a quieter driving experience.

henneth's suggested itinerary is almost in the same league as Ben Haines or Sheila for their necks of the woods. By far the most intelligent route I've seen on this board for the area between central London and Scotland. Two codas:

The effective start of spring - and the consequent arrival of seat-kicking brats onto an otherwise civilsed landscape every weekend - is Mothering Sunday. Which, as every fule kno, is the fourth Sunday of Lent - this year March 6. From the first "let's take Mum out to a Sunday pub lunch" of the year till the leaves start to fall, Cotswold weekends do need a bit of planning. But, outside weekends, we remain the perfect idyll of civilisation throughout March. BTW, how did Americans come to get the date of Mothering Sunday wrong?

It's not quite on henneth's route, but try to take in Swinbrook (about four miles from Burford). It really is at its best in mid March as the daffs start to turn the area into a yellow and pleasant land. The recent Mitford memorials are poignant (you're almost tempted to feel sorry for the appalling Unity). But the rather older Fettiplace monuments in the church are the jolliest tombs I've seen anywhere. And if you follow the history of the odd scraps of medieval glass, and realise what they've had to live through so you can see them, you really will believe in miracles.

I was tempted to give a Windrush valley itinerary instead, but as Swinbrook has now been revealed and the Mitfords of Asthall Manor/Swinbrook Hall mentioned, I will suggest a pub lunch or dinner at the Maytime in Asthall. The food in there is to be recommended,although I can eat my words if it is Chef's day off.

Thank you carolv, flanneruk and henneth for the wonderful suggestions. We will be sure to bring boots as well as umbrellas! I will keep you posted on our plans.

Hi susan:
My husband and I have been to the UK twice, both times in March. The first time we were in England and Wales and had mixed weather-a lot of rain in Wales, very chilly, and a bit of sun in England-still requiring a leather jacket. The second trip was to Scotland and we actually had several days of over 60 degrees and sunny. IT was lovely! For us, it was perfect. I love the rain and it made touring the castle ruins all the more romantic (besides being the only visitors on occasion!). We really loved it and found it to be a wonderful time to visit.

If yo are planning on a visit to Kent / London right now get out your coats and gloves. Thick snow (for us anyway) 4 or so inches. Many roads closed and trains totally disrupted. May last for a few days / week.