The Green and Pleasant Land

I admit, I’ve been thinking a lot about America recently. I even specifically watched a bunch of American film clips so that I could see the landscape and the cities, and all that jazz that I love, the other week.

But, no denying, there’s a touch of Spring in the English air and that means the flowers are a’blooming, and the land is looking very green and very pleasant indeed. Not being one to turn down an invitation to visit a new place, Harry and I merrily turned up at the Rococo Gardens near Painswick in Gloucestershire with a spring in our step and a wish of wonderment.

If you didn’t know (and I didn’t, really) rococo is a style of art and architecture originating in in France and Italy in the early 1700s. The Hyett family who owned the very British Painswick House and the gardens translated that into a vision in this rather amazing garden. It’s all fabulously fanciful, with breathtaking views, a kitchen garden, secret buildings, mazes and winding paths. And people flock here for the bluebells in Bluebell Walk and the snowdrops in Snowdrop Grove.

Harry declared it ‘delightful’. I thought it wonderous, captivating, enchanting.

Snowdrop Grove

The daffs are out!

Capturing the European essence

Delightful!

Tree carvings

‘I love this land’

 

I think I might ask to take up residence here and write my Gothic/romantic novel. It’s such a unique, extravagant, pure setting – all rolled into one experience. One moment you’re in the heart of nature looking at a sea of snowdrops, the next you’re weaving your way through a sculpted maze. It’s an eclectic mix of ostentatiousness with its frivolous buildings, alongside the wonder of nature with its careful planting bringing attention to the resident trees and flowers.

Look through the flamboyance of it all and the views are incredible. Harry muttered ‘I love this land’ as he breathed in the vista from the top of the garden.

Yes, England, you are magnificent. And it still surprises me how many people in Gloucestershire have yet to visit these things so close to home. ‘I keep meaning to go there…’. I hear that a lot. Don’t say it, don’t procrastinate peeps. Do it. And definitely go and visit Rococo Gardens, because your heart will leap with joy at this fascinating spectacle right on your doorstep.

And for those Americans, or Brits in America, who keep asking for more photos of special places such as this in the UK – it’s my pleasure 😉

The Fabulous English Cotswolds

Visit Britain’s Gem

I might be slightly biased, but as a Brit-who-lives-in-America-who-is-visiting-the-UK I find the Cotswolds still one of the most charming and delightfully English places of all.

But I don’t really know it properly; I haven’t discovered it all and there is much more to it than I am aware of. So I was over the moon to discover that there is a totally new tour of the Cotwsolds that shows you all the hidden nooks and crannies and gems of the area, and it’s aimed at showing American tourists the wonders of the land – so kind of perfect for me!

The tour is actually a full day tour of Cotswold villages that includes an invitation into a private home, The Secret Cottage, for morning coffee, a buffet lunch and a traditional cream tea. Can you get more Englishy-English than that? No you jolly well can’t!

The idyllic Secret Cottage

Every day throughout the year a six hour guided day tour of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire north Cotswold villages, combined with intervals at a private thatched cottage shows tourists these beautiful places in the countryside. I have to admit that on this return journey I am becoming more partial to the British countryside. It’s captured me!

Cotswolds joy!

Becky, the tour guide, drives a minibus to outstanding hidden villages that are inaccessible by public transport. The unspoilt villages that she has selected are made up of thatched cottages, clipped lawns and dusty lanes, which perfectly illustrate what life was like in the 16^th century. Having lived in the area for twenty-five years, her local knowledge is invaluable to visitors.

What gave Becky the idea for starting the tour was that every tourist yearns to see inside these cottages and to see how the English conduct their daily lives?  Well she lives in a pretty thatched cottage and though ‘I’d love to show people what I experience every day.’ Though she doesn’t dress in 16th century clothes, just so you know.

Becky’s home is called ‘Secret Cottage’ and is quintessentially perfect for guests to explore and experience how the English live in the Cotswolds. Inside everything is old and quaint, there are three inglenook fireplaces which are open log fires used to heat the cottage, the winding stairs and floors are made from original elm planks and the heavily beamed listed cottage is nearly 500 years old!

During the tour of villages, Becky periodically returns to Secret Cottage to serve morning coffee and pastries, a buffet lunch and in the afternoon you can see the scones being baked in the Aga, which are essential for the traditional English Cotswold cream tea.

Delightful!

All of the tourists are overwhelmed by the experience of being invited into a private home with many of them describing it as fairyland. Becky excels when it comes to deciding which route to take for the day, she’s brilliant at assessing what the different nationalities would like to see and consistently delivers a bespoke memorable tour that is guaranteed to please everybody with plenty of surprises.

With only seven passenger seats in the Mercedes minibus, guests are guaranteed that their tour is personal and can choose when they’d like to stop and take their pictures.

I tell you, American friends, and British friends too if you want to experience and really see the Cotswolds properly, you have to do this. Already, TripAdvisor has Ranked Secret Cottage #1 of 18 ‘Best Attractions in Moreton-in-Marsh’ and #2 of 91 ‘Best Activities in the Cotswolds’. 

The tour  was recently been part of a television series with a whole episode dedicated to Secret Cottage, this was organised by Visit Britain, Virgin Atlantic and Cotswold Tourism. Fancy that!

I adore the Cotswolds. And I’m seeing it all again through new eyes and appreciating it even more.