Houses, Gardens & Walking in England
 

Finally, 17 episodes posted. First some Thames Path, then Oxford & the Cotswolds with houses, gardens & William Morris, plus a bit of London at the end.

http://www.travelgumbo.com/blog/portmoresby-in-england

Lovely photos!

Thank you!

MmePerdu--The title immediately captured my interest because walking and gardens are things we too enjoy. Great descriptions and great photos.

I think you have encouraged me in the past to visit England because with all of the places throughout the world that we have visited we have never been to England (other than transiting through the airport). This has encouraged me even more now.

Doing these day trips could all be a part of a stay in London, correct? So, we could rent a flat for a few weeks and mix up our days with urban and rural?

Was this early or late May? What would be the earliest in the spring one could visit London and enjoy such pleasures comfortably?

Julies, if these are things you love, as I do, there's simply no place like England in the world. This trip was mid-May.

I stayed in London and in the Cotswolds and would recommend you not try to do a similar trip from London. There are houses & gardens that can be done from London but most of the best, in my experience, need a car to get you there so you'd be limited by that fact. I suggest you divide your time between London and the countryside with a car. And staying outside the city is such sheer pleasure, in any case.

Regarding timing, as others have said on your own thread, April is good, but I prefer May.

We are headed to Cornwall for 2 weeks in early May, and it's been a dog's age (like 12 years) since either of us has been in the UK. We are beyond excited about it, and we love gardens and green spaces. So thanks for this.

MmePerdu--The report of yours was the incentive for my posting the other weather question thread.

So, where were you staying in each of the different locales you posted about?

Julies, for London I stayed a week in Wimbledon, good for my purposes but I think somewhat out of the way for a first visit.

After a night in Oxford, because I love it and to pick up a car, I went on to Hidcote Boyce for a week, a small village in the northern Cotswolds and the subject of one of the posts.

The best plan for a stay in the countryside is to do your homework and pick a location that will limit your drives. No need to drive for hours every day, especially for a first time. Any district you choose will have plenty to keep you busy.

Julies, while in the shower where I do my best thinking, it occurred to me that the location of my stay in the Cotswolds is an excellent example of my point about choosing an area with no need to drive far and still have more to do than days to them. While in Hidcote Boyce, close to the lovely town of Chipping Campden if you prefer more amenities, I was walking distance to both Hidcote & Kiftsgate gardens and an easy drive to atmospheric Chastleton House, Sezincote with it's great garden, all in the posted link. Also the town of Broadway and nearby house & garden Snowshill Manor, Batsford Arboretum, Mill Dene Garden. If you prefer other attractions there will be similar opportunities nearby, though the neighborhood I mention is, I think, especially rich.

For walking, the 100 mile Cotswold Way begins in Chipping Campden and there are any number of guides with directions for circular walks along it and other paths, where you can park your car, walk any distance you choose, have a pub lunch and continue the circle to return to your car. Anyplace you decide to stay will have similar local walks.

bmk for later.

I'll just put in my 2 cents. We loved Chipping Campden where we overnighted several years ago. Wished we had spent more time there as it was raining when we first arrived and only had a bit of time the next (gorgeous) morning to look around.

I really enjoyed reading this and seeing your photos. Thanks for posting.

Lee Ann

Happy to be of service.

Mme P - I lived not far from the Cotswolds for my first 20 years or so, and have been back countless times since to see my family and friends, but I've never been to any of the places you mentioned, apart from Hidcote. How did that happen??? unfortunately my next visit to see my mum probably next weekend is likely to be a flying one, but I'm putting all those on my virtual list of things to do when I visit.

Thanks!

Annhig, how DID that happen? You've got some very pleasant catching up to do! My favorites were Kelmscott Manor & Chastleton House, if you have time to see no others. Kelmscott has the trickier open times, see the first link at the bottom.

Thanks for posting this. We leave for England in less than 2 weeks. I look forward to exploring and you've added to my growing research.

We start in Oxford for 3 nights -- anything special you recommend that is not listed in all the guide books? thanks

Yes, yestravel, evensong services are special if you love transcendent music in a beautiful setting. Churches at more than 1 of the colleges have them but I always seem to end up at Christ Church Cathedral, also probably the easiest to find. And a tour of the Bodleian Library, about as atmospheric an institution as I've seen, though both of those are in the guidebooks, for a reason.

Possibly less known, if you'd like a walk, Addisons's Walk, just east of Magdalen College has been on my list for years. If you do it let me know how you like it. Also the bontanic garden, just across from Magdalen is a good one, very worthwhile.

Have a fine visit.

"Botanic" garden, of course.

Nice write-ups, all these years I've called it "the Broad".

IMO, The Morris house, while an interesting social experiment (a fair bit of free love I understand) the actual building is pretty awful though the individual products are awe inspiring, in fact the room I sit in as I write this is wall-papered in his designs.

Annhig, how DID that happen? You've got some very pleasant catching up to do! >

don't ask me, ask my mother! another weird omission from my education when I was growing up was that I was never taken to Ironbridge though it was little more than an hour's drive away from my home. The birth place of the industrial revolution, more or less, and I not only never went there with my parents but nor was I really taught about it at school. oh yes we did the spinning jenny and all that stuff but no-one said "it started 50 miles away from here and we're going next week".

And my dad was an engineer. it makes me wonder what we've omitted from our kids' education.