The Cotswolds - gardens and walking

Bourton-on-the-Water by night

Yesterday I returned from a walking holiday with HF Holidays. Actually this was entitled Walking with Sightseeing, so we spent time visiting places and had a walk in between. I went along with a friend. This has become our annual four night trip away.

We were based in Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire, in a hotel which is a listed building and has a lovely little tower with a windows all around. Up there are two chairs and a small table - ideal as a reading place. Our time was pretty much taken up with activities so the most we managed was two evening visits to watch the sun go down.

We had a full programme. We arrived on Monday, late afternoon and just about managed to get down for afternoon tea which was followed by a a guided walk around Bourton. We then headed back to our room to unpack and get ready for dinner. Food is a BIG thing on all HF Holidays. The meals are lovely and you will never go hungry. After dinner we had a short quiz. It came in two parts and the first one was on birds - clues to the names. We did quite well on that one. The other was to name the countries. They had been taken out of the map and so made identifying them very hard. I think we got four.

Tuesday was the first full day and after breakfast we met by the boot room at 9.20am and set off down the road to meet the coach. It took us out to the ruins of a 13th century Cistercian Abbey (Hailes Abbey), first visiting the nearby church. At the ruins is an exhibition and shop. The ruins go back a long way and there are plenty of information boards with pictures of how it would have looked. It was a bit of a cold start to the day, so I was wearing two fleeces to keep warm. The day brightened up as we began our walk after a couple of hours at the Abbey. The three mile walk took us past Winchcombe and on to Sudeley Castle which has many links with royalty and is the place where Catherine Parr is buried. The castle (never built as a fort but a home) is still lived in and some of the rooms we saw are still used by the family. We had our packed lunch before we went on our way to explore. A lovely place with extensive displays, ruins and beautiful gardens. We were picked up at 4.30pm for the journey back to Bourton. In the evening we had a local man come in to speak to us for about an hour. He gave a presentation about the history (with photos) of certain places in the area. Really interesting.

Hailes Church

Hailes Abbey

Catherine Parr's tomb, Chapel, Sudeley Castle

Sudeley Castle

Ruins of Banqueting Hall, Sudeley Castle

Lily Pond, Sudeley Castle Gardens

Wednesday soon became a hot day and layers came off. We started at Batsford Arboretum where we spent a couple of hours exploring the gardens. We then set off on our walk (a total of five miles|). We stopped at Dovers Hill for our lunch in the sunshine before walking towards Broadway Tower. High up and with views across several counties. The tower has three floors and the viewing platform. Each floor gives the history of the place. The one I fell in love with was the floor dedicated to William Morris who visited there. The windows are draped with his curtains designs. The walls have his wallpaper and there are cushions. I was swooning! The view from the top really was spectacular and below us was a deer park. From the tower we walked down into the town of Broadway and found a nice tea shop for a well earned cuppa. In the evening was the big quiz. All the HF Holiday houses do the same quiz on the same night. We teamed up with four ladies (friends) who we sat next to at dinner. There were four rounds and we had some rather miserable scores at first. Then came the entertainment round (usually my specialty). Well, we ended up with every single question right on that round (my musical knowledge came in useful). At the end of the quiz we were just two points off the winning score. Not bad!

Batsford Arbouretum

The Manor House

Sheep shearing (taken on the walk to the Tower)

The William Morris Room, Broadway Tower

The Deer Park

Tea at Broadway

Broadway

On Thursday we were driven out to Hidcote Manor Gardens. These gardens are designed like rooms - all different and with lots of little hedge arches leading to other places. It was the first type of garden of its kind. We spent about three hours here and ate lunch before the start of the walk. This was three and half miles in all and crossed farmland and woods, dipping into valley before reaching Chipping Campden. The day had started cool and then got hot. When we reached the town it began to rain so we headed for a tea shop! By the time we came out the rain had stopped and we had a chance to walk for a bit looking at the buildings and shops. There was no formal entertainment on the last night but Chris, our leader, had been taking photos all week and he showed some of them over after dinner tea and coffee.

Foxgloves, Hidcote Manor Gardens

Plant House

The house

Spotted on our walk

Chipping Campden

My friend and I enjoyed the combination of walking and sightseeing (we've done guided walking with short stops before). This was leisurely but when you count in the walking round the gardens on top of the walk we ended up walking around eight miles one day! It just doesn't feel like that - until later when the legs begin to ache! Also with a set group you are with the same people the whole time so there is more chance to getting to know people. This was a part of the world I'd not been to before and it surprised me that the Cotswolds had hills! The stonework is unique too and Bourton-on-the-Water is picturesque.

This is my second holiday with HF this year (I did a leisure one in Shropshire in March learning Chinese Brush Painting). They are good value for money. It has everything I like in a holiday so I'm sure there will be more to come. Oh, it was my birthday on the Tuesday too. I said I didn't want a fuss but my friend did bring a banner!

Sunset from the little tower

Yeah, well!

Bourton-on-the-Water