I’m taking my mother to the Cotswolds for a few days. She has seen very little of England’s glorious countryside outside East Anglia and I’m hoping she will enjoy 
its unspoilt, picturesque villages. It’s her birthday treat from my sister and I.
I last visited the Cotswolds three years ago on a walking weekend with a girlfriend Heather. We had arranged to meet on a Friday at some stunning gardens I had long wanted to visit, Hidcote.
I arrived there first only to discover it was closed. I couldn’t believe that the National Trust closed this fabulous garden on a Friday. Other disappointed visitors were arriving too. Heather was travelling from London and had not yet arrived. I managed to call her on her mobile and we then headed for Snowshill Manor, which I found enthralling.
It contains an extraordinary collection of unusual objects from
the eccentric architect, artist and craftsman Charles Paget Wade. But it was his life story which I found gripping. Wade married in 1946, having met his wife when she was lost and knocked on his door at Snowshill Manor, and went to live with her in the West Indies.
He was extremely fond of dressing up using old costumes from amongst his vast collection, and visitors to his manor house, including John Betjeman, Virginia Woolf, Graham Greene and J.B. Priestley, were often persuaded to perform amateur dramatics in ‘Dragon’, one of the rooms in the manor house, or in the garden. J. B. Priestly described Wade as: ‘My eccentric, but charming friend of the fantastic manor house.
How I would have loved to have been one of his dinner guests. I’m hoping to take mum to Snowshill, and I know my sister Rosalind would enjoy it as she is an amazing collector too, her house looks like a museum.
Heather and I stayed in a B & B on a farm with a charming family whose cattle were being killed by Bovine TB caused by badgers. Their livelihood was being devastated. Their hall was covered with photos of their smiling children wearing graduation gowns. They were so warm and homely and I really enjoyed my stay there.
B & B is not mum’s style, so we are booked in a very smart hotel which has a magnificent looking pool and is renowned for its excellent food. The objective is for us both to be well pampered.
*Talk about a small world. Last weekend Heather and I met for a walk in Suffolk around Aldeburgh and Southwold. Mary, the friend we stayed with, had once lived in a magnificent country house in a nearby village called Yoxford. When Heather and I visited Snowshill, Heather noticed a picture of Mary’s house in the hallway. Charles Paget Wade was born in Yoxford and could have lived in that house. I shall try and find out more on my return visit there over the next few days.
I would have thought there would be a lot of visitors on a Friday.
I hope you have a great time 🙂
I am a member of the National Trust and the places I want to visit always seem to be closed on the wrong days. This year they have extended the opening hours to quite a lot of properties.
I love the cotswolds I must say and have been all over many times. I dont think badgers cause bovine tb by the way – rather cows and badgers catch bovine tb.
Hope you are hving a great time. Such pretty photos.
Yes have a great time in Cotswolds… No doubt Cameron On, told you to go their as part of the new caring I’m in touch with the working man bullspin.
While on hols remember the following cannot be spun away
Not a week seemingly goes by without some gaffe. Camera On may have changed, and he may have fooled the population that his party has changed, but the evidence is still there
Oakley – Oh dear.
Ray Lewis – Dodgy
James McGrath – Racist remark
Mercer – Black Bastards
Conways – On the fiddle
Hastilow – Racist Remarks
Cllr Ellenor Bland – Racist Peom
Ann Winterton – Banana Repudlic
Alun Cairns – Inappropriate comments
Giles Chichester – Nice little earner
I haven’t even mentioned Bozzer yet !!!!!
I could go on and on, still NASTY, and , still SLEAZY
Love the Cotswolds. You can no longer drop in to take tea with Laurie Lee, but I know you would have were he still with us. Maybe you can find Rosie.
And, Southwold as well. You do take me back.
Fabulous place, Ellee – have a wonderful time.
I have really enjoyed this piece Ellie: Gracious, I’ve been all over the place via the Cotswold and then over to Southwold.
I am also a member of the National Trust so, will make a point of visiting ‘your’ places when next in the vicinity.
I looked at the Southwold site and have found a holiday cottage, with a beach hut available, now that really appeals to me.
We usually hire a cottage in the UK at least once per year and I really rather fancy Southwold!
Enjoy the time with your Mum.
Di.
well- I can remember going to paris for th4e first time and discovering that the Louvre was shut on a Tuesday!
All that way from Aus…!!!
For Loula and Only Loula
It all started by unseen circumstances. We (I and my friend Liz) cancelled our trip to Hidcote twice, but not today – twenty first of July- I did not know why I felt that I am going to meet an old friend. Walking through the narrow long pathway at the eastern part of Hidcote, I spotted a bench at the end. I sat and I could see two women from a distance. You can tell they are a daughter (Ellee) and a mother (Loula) the way they are acting. It was very interesting the eye contact they have between each other! You can tell they both have their ups and downs and they are sharing some of them now?
I will never forget the colourful stripy T-shirt Loula had on. It fitted just right in that part of the garden. I wonder, what is her favourite colour? Maybe green or blue like mine. I am not going to talk about colours and their political importance in our time. However, she did not look either conservative or labour!
The daughter was protective in a nice way and wanted to document every step they are sharing together. I could not see what is so-called a ‘special personal space’ around Loula but I knew that she is not English. Do not tell me how? Maybe the way she is using her hands in her conversation or the way she looks at everything. I thought ‘I am going to challenge my vibes’ when they are close and put the dots over the words. I started talking to Loula the minute our eyes get together.
Hamzeh: I bet you are enjoying every bit of the sun, aren’t you?
Loula: of course, why not.
Hamzeh: You are not English, are you? Let me guess where are you originally from? …you sound Russian?
Loula: with a very big smile on her face, ‘certainly not’.
For a moment I thought she cannot be an American? She does not have her Big Hat on!
Hamzeh: from Latvia then!?
Loula: not from a socialist country.
She sounds kind and happy. Her body language tells many things about her.
Hamzeh: Can you give a clue?
Loula: where are you from?
Syria, I replied.
Loula: well my country is not far away from yours.
You are from Israel, I followed.
Loula raised her eyebrows – our countries are friends.
No again, then! By now my brain is burning and loads of question marks occupying my frontal lobe. Where is she from?
Hamzeh: can I have another guess? You are from Greece, aren’t you?
Loula: yes I am – with very proud voice and eyes. Her eyes light up when she said she is. She gave me one of the best Five I had for long time! Acutely I loved it so much and I asked for a second Five.
So what do you do for living?
Hamzeh: I am an anaesthetist.
Loula: so how do you put people to sleep?
Hamzeh: I play some music on my guitar and sing a song.
Yeah right she said.
Loula: we ought to go and continue our Hidcote exploring walks and find the hidden treasures.
An hour later my friend Liz and I joined Ellee and Loula for coffee at her table. I felt there were no barriers and all this personal space has vanished, even from Ellee. She really reminds me of my mum (very strong but kind). She told me how she is still in love with her husband even after his death. I like the way her eyes and hands moved when she was talking about him. I can tell you that she had a wonderful time and ultimate companionship.
So where is Home I asked.
Home is where your love is she replied. For Loula it was with Alfred Williams in Cambridge.
Ellee took a few photos and I left Loula with a small Lavender plant (Loula in the Greek language means ‘a flower’). In the garden of flowers, Loula promised me that every time she will water it she will remember me. These thoughts belong to Loula who I think I have met 250 years ago.
Am I going to meet Loula again in the future? I think, I will.
Hi Hamzeh, it was lovely to meet you and Liz and my mother was very touched with the lavender you bought her.
My mother is a reluctant follower of beautiful gardens and when you saw us, I was explaining to her the beauty of our surroundings at Hidcote. She loves music and lively people, anything that makes her feel involved. You livened up our visit and made it memorable for her.
I believe you thought she was Russian, and she always likes teasing people about her country of origin. She did enjoy her weekend, and that gives me immense pleasure.
I really liked meeting Liz and am glad it was third times lucky for you both for your visit.
Regarding Snowshill, I tried my hand at dowsing there and hope to make a YouTube of this. It was extraordinary. I also learnt that the last lady of the house who knocked on the door had specifically set her sites on Charles Paget Ward and pursued him this way until he agreed to marry her aged 63, and she was in her 40s. They lived very separate lives and while he lived in the Old Priest’s House at Snowshill in two rooms, she stayed at the Lygon Arms Hotel in Broadway which is where my mother and I stayed.
It was a very stimulating an interesting trip. I loved my morning swim at the hotel pool which was really fabulous.
Oh Ellee! I remember Snowshill – it was my favourite spot in all the Cotswolds! Such lovely rolling hills and beautiful homes. We were amused at the thought that the church is rather modern, having been built only in the 1860s…lol We drove the lanes above the town and took photos of the sheep grazing in the hills. I’d love to return one day. Hope you have a wonderful time with your mother.
I haven’t been to the Cotswolds for years – literally – have a wonderful time Ellee!
Let me know if you’re ever coming to Winchester, Ellee
WW, likewise, please let me know if you are in the Cambridge area.
Sorry Ellee but Mary did not knock on the door of the Manor when she was lost. She first saw & met Charles in the Priest’s House during a visit to the garden 16 June 1945.
Mary did live in the Priest’s House and her bed is still there.
She did not live in the Lygon Arms until 1969
and then for a short period only. Charles died 1956
Pedantic, no need to say sorry. It’s always helpful to learn what others know. Many thanks.