Today, we have been back walking on trails, hills, and often just faint lines in the tall grass hoping it's the right trail to reach our pickup point in Snowshill. We first looked at the rural Guiting Temple area, starting with a small church, St Mary's, and then a stately manor house. The manor house was clearly under repair with scaffolding, but the garden gates were unlocked and we went in and were glad we did.
The skies were dark and gray and there was a stiff breeze all day; quite a change from the previous warmth, but it was good walking weather. We walked through several small villages and many fields before reaching Snowshill Manor now part of the National Trust. Snowshill Manor was crowded on the bank holiday Saturday, so we could not get into the main house, but were able to see the gardens and smaller buildings and workshops. Basically the man who made it was rich and eccentric, and a collector of interesting things which were displayed all over the buildings and grounds.
She said:
A few last
words on Hartington, the Peak District and our B+B there – The Bank House.
The Bank
House is the quintessential countryside B+B.
Helen and Steve let out 5 rooms in their home. The Breakfast Room is their dining room. Their refrigerator is where we park our wine
and beer. Their back garden is where we
hang our hand washing each day. They are
sooo nice! Nothing is too much for them
to do. Breakfasts are made to order –
Steve taking the orders and Helen doing the cooking. Our B+B mates are an eclectic bunch:
-
Judy (80) and John (84), from around Wicken Fen,
a few hours away, in Hartington for a short break until they head over to
Blackpool for a great-niece’s wedding.
They are walkers from way back when who have adjusted their daily walking
mileage so that they can still be out there. They invited us to dinner across
the street at The Devonshire Arms pub on the last night we were all at The Bank
House. They gave us great tips on
walking in Switzerland (go to Interlaken) and New Zealand (hire a driver). We passed a fast 3 hours together and all
toddled back to The Bank House for our last night’s stay.
-
Joan (mid/late 80’s, early 90’s?) who stays at
the Bank House every year around this time so she can attend the Tissington
Well Dressing Festival. She is an odd
little lady; she lives alone in Cheshire and takes buses all over England. Her hearing aid was constantly buzzing with a
high-pitched ringing. She harrumphed and
hummed to herself and blurted out comments at whim, even in the middle of
others’ conversations. A true
countryside character.
-
A young Japanese woman who arrived late one night
with an interpreter. The interpreter
left and she stayed on her own. She
spoke hardly any English. R and I helped
her to figure out the coffee “cafe tier” at breakfast – she had never seen one
before. She ordered a Full English
Breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes, toast, beans) and did
look a bit dismayed when it arrived.
-
A posh couple (their accent gave them away) who
only stayed one night on their way home to Cambridge from a long walking holiday. Cordial enough, but somewhat condescending to
our quirky little group. No matter. We were a merry band after our 5 days together.
The Bank
House has been Helen’s home since childhood. She and Steve bought a 20’ motor home 3 years
ago, and have been slowly retiring. This year, they will leave June 1 and be
gone for 6 months – closing down The Bank House and traveling to Scandinavia
and St. Petersburg. They are very
excited for their great adventure.
The Peak District
walking was challenging. Most paths,
though well marked, are rutted and hilly, with lots of scree fields strewn
about. Luckily, the payoffs are well
worth the trouble – magnificent scenery, historic villages and spectacular
views.
Our train on
Friday, from Derby to Oxford, then on to Morton-in-the-Marsh, was lovely and
relaxing. Our driver in the Cotswolds is
Alex. He was born in Bulgaria and has,
what sounds to me, like either a Russian or Israeli accent. He is very high strung but interesting and
solicitous, none the less.
Our accommodation
for 3 nights in Stow-on-the-Wold is the excellent Old Stocks Inn, built in the
17th century and now lovingly and beautifully restored and
refurbished into a luxurious country hotel.
20 Rooms, all maintaining the 17th century charm while updated
with every convenience and comfort. My
kind of place. We ate dinner in the Inn
restaurant last night – delicious.
Today we began
our walk in Temple Guiting, with the obligatory look around the village
(hamlet, really) church. St. Mary’s
Church was built by The Knights Templar, those bad boy precursors of the Jesuits. The outstanding historic features of the
church are actually on the outside – a row of scary, garish, creepy heads of
people and animals, lining the eaves.
The wind was
stiff and the skies stayed gray all day.
Temple
Guiting also has a Manor House, but it was covered in scaffolding. It was easy to see how grand it will be when
the restoration is complete, but for today, we were happy enough that the Manor
gardens were open. Meticulously
manicured and bursting with blooms. I
will let R’s photos speak for themselves.
We crossed a
field of newly shorn sheep – the most curious sheep we have ever seen. They stared at us and really didn’t move
away. Unusual for sheep, who normally scatter
fast when humans approach.
We passed
The Plough Inn, and crossed to the path that ran through a Gallops (a long, straight,
groomed, fenced race track for training horses). We dubbed the horse farm we were walking
through The Spoiled Horses Farm, as the horses in the paddocks were clearly
thoroughbreds and very well cared for.
Our info sheet said that this farm trains many of England’s premier
racing horses. And, they were beautiful
horses, indeed.
A few more
fields (easy walking today – soft grass underfoot) and we were in
Cutsdean. Tiny country church - St. James.
On to
Snowshill Manor, the estate of eccentric collector – Charles Wade. The estate was built as a monastery in 900 and
confiscated by Henry Vlll when he closed all the Catholic monasteries and churches. Henry gave it as a dowry to his last wife,
Catherine. It remained in royal hands
until the early 20th century when it was bought by Charles Wade as a
home for his crazy collections. He lived
out back in a small medieval building and devoted the Manor House to his
collections. The gardens are as eccentric
as the collections, with outlandish statues and sundials and armillarias and plants. We enjoyed an hour gawking at everything
until Alex picked us up and drove us back to The Old Stocks Inn.
On our walk
today, we saw 5 other people.
When we
arrived back in Stow-on-the-Wold, our sleepy little village had been taken over
by hundreds of Brits out to enjoy the long Bank Holiday weekend (Mon. off). We stopped at the market, picked up salad
fixings and holed up in our comfy room for the night – munching and watching
David Attenborough nature shows on the Telly.
Perfect.
Miles – 7.1
Photos:
In Guiting Temple
Along the path...
In Ford
The path
Snowshill Village
Snowshill Manor
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