Oxfordshire - Berkshire June 26 - 1st July

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Burford pub made to be very inviting

We will come back to this another day for the classic scone with clotted cream.

Building inspectors heart attack....

The Cotswold Cheese Company

Main Street

Friday was forecast as another hot day so off early to a village called Burford, another Cotswolds stunner and only 20 mins away. Being there by 9am is the trick to have the place to yourselves basically. Had a lovely feel about it, many independent quaint shops.

Moved on to the Burford Garden Company is an Oxfordshire institution at 6 hectares of all things plants, just mind blowing. Dogs not allowed in so we took turns to stooge about.

Time for a cooling swim for Omey so went back to Minster Lovell but she would not go into the river, just a muddy duck pond. Jeff had to lift her back into the car, a muddy mess, then we hosed her off back at 1 Wood Lane. Heat of the day lessened by 6pm so we took Omey on the public pathway to the "Bird in Hand" pub 20mins walk for Friday night drink and dinner. The English classic fish pie was pretty good washed down by a lager. A bassett hound and Omey ignored each other. 

Yes they still have post boxes in the UK but slowly disappearing.

Saturday due to visit our next housesit at East Garston for a famil. A woods walk for an hour and a half for the dog to take off the edge, she was quite happy to sit in the car for the hour to East Garston. Crane Farm is a big property and we will be caring for a horse and two black labradors. When we arrived all dogs got on well . Met Paul, Yvonne and tbeir cleaner; who has worked at Crane farm for years. Unfortunately the horse has laminitis so a lot more faffing about to care for him as he can not stay in the field after noon. Nice folks who had never had housesitters before. We were recommended to them from a job we did in Berkshire a couple of years ago. Agreed to arrive on the Tuesday night before tbey depart so as to go over the horse regime the morning of their departure.

Swept by the Windrush River on the way home for a dog swim, beside herself with delight.

Next day we headed out for an 8km loop at Asthall. Lovely rolling downs past St Marys church. We walked past headstones and to our amazement come across the infamous  Mitford sisters all in a row. Unity, the Hitler lover/ Nazi who tried to commit suicide when Britian declared war on Germany, Jessica the Communist, Diana the socialist and Nancy. There were three other siblings. An upperclass aristocratic family all mad as hatters, inbreeding seems to do that. All girls were expected to disregard formal education and marry young to a prosperous husband.

St Marys circa 1700's

Can just make out the Mitford name.

Sunday and the villages were heaving with tourists but nothing prepared us for driving past Jeremy Clarkson's lasted venture - Diddly Squat Farm Shop and "The Farmers Dog" pub. Hundreds of people, cars and coaches. It was rammed so we beat a hasty retreat back to Wood Lane. A neighbour in the village and his wife called in for afternoon tea. He had been design engineer for the Arrows F1 team then head hunted as design engineer by Renault Alpine formula one team which was apt as we watch the Formula One racing here every Sunday night on Channel 4 - Austrian this week and Silverstone next Sunday.

Next day another walk and another church called St Oswalds. A lady saw our small backpacks with "kiwi" on them and said "you must go into the church on your walk as it is on the site of a Roman Villa and is mainly 13th century...." She was not wrong. Murals from 1348 were still on two walls showing people alive and dead with the reminder to "live today" as death finds us all; whether king or pauper.

Note the floors, seven hundred years of use.

Private family stalls

Last day at Wood Lane we went back to Blenheim Palace for a walk on the grounds and to meet friends at Woodstock. We cycled with John and Maddy last year in France. John is a real cycle gear nut and we wanted to get his opinion on two new road bikes we want to buy on return to NZ in anticipation of cycling Munich to Rome May 2027. Alas Maddy forgot our date so Jeff, moi and the dog had a nice lunch at Hampers Deli in Woodstock anyway. Arranged that they come to East Garston mid July- written in the diary this time.

Went back to Huffkins at Burford with a wet dog after a walk and swim. Scrummy scone and clotted cream for Jeff and Victoria sponge for me. Delicious.

Jeff very keen to go back to the Jeremy Clarkson project before we left the area. Tuesday morning still very busy and to be honest we were very underwhelmed. People are like lemmings buying mugs, teeshirts, bacon burgers and beer. Farmshop produce was pitiful. The Hawkestone beer is good says Jeff but otherwise do not waste your time.

Beer garden at The Farmers Dog, 11am.

The bacon burger team

  

So owners of Omey arrived back 2pm, said our goodbyes and we headed off to Newbury to get supplies to take to East Garston. The Cranes Farm is 10 minutes by car from tbe village, pub only, and Newbury for essentials 25 minutes. Paul and Yvonne busy packing to depart for Canada for three weeks so we got ourselves setup - groceries, bedding etc.

Different area, plenty of tasks, friends will call in and super property.

Dogs Ella and Otto at front of the main house

View out the front of the main house.

Cottage that visiting relatives stay in and workshop, office at right.

 

Marco the horse with Laminitis. Jeff spent this afternoon setting up a horse cover rack to reduce the 6.30am tasks.

Oxfordshire continues...June 22nd to 25th June

 All the next week here in the UK is forecast to be hot. They send out  "red alerts" "danger of death" schools close etc. Although ironically thousands of Brits go to Europe - Italy, Spain, France for summer holidays where 35C is not uncommon. These temperatures are not bearable in the UK as generally housing is setup for cold, damp weather, domestic airconditioning is a dream for many. Not to mention the council zealouts who do not allow planning permission for aircon  - "open a window but close them at night"...I ask you. 

So we have plotted out the weeks activities allowing for our walks, swimming for the black labrador we are caring for before the 3pm forecast 33C arrives. Monday saw us drive to Newbridge (25mins drive) which is on the Thames River. The river is small and clear in this part of England. It actually starts near Cheltenham about 50km away. If you think of the, at times, brown very wide river meandering through London it is such a contrast. We walked about 11km on what was called " New Bridge to The Blue Boar loop".  Lots of canal boats, locks and good places for the dog to swim, she was overjoyed. 

Wandering along the path we kept seeing bright blue dragon flies. 

The path passed bird hides, avenues of trees and a field of cows and calves. The deciduous lime trees ( Linden sp.) are in full flower and the scent is a delight We had a couple of these at Jefferswood. Finished up back at New Bridge at The Rose Revived - such great pub names.

Later afternoon Jeff was chatting on the phone to a friend and there was a terrific thump. I thought one of the many pigeons that live around the house had undertaken a kamikaze on the house but no. One of the cypress trees, weighted with ivy, had just fallen over from the neighbours landing on the fence and the roof of the house. So neighbour got onto the "Town and Country" arborist and put up a sign to say the Public Footpath between the two properties is out of action. Next morning a couple of lads spent 4 hours removing the tree, Jeff repaired the fence, replaced spouting. A couple of stone tiles need replaced but not paramount. We tidied up gardens and hay presto all good. Heaps more light coming into the kitchen now.

Weirdly the owner of the home we are looking after, sent a whatsapp message next morning that the village community group had advised there was a burst water main at Poffley End, so no water. Barely noticed and given the panic about the temperatures they were onto it quickly.  We did not bother to tell him about the tree as it was sorted, but the village drum beats loudly all the way to Scotland where they are holidaying. He had already advised us "how to cope with hot temps" 😵‍💫.  Jeff replied all under control re tree. Got the lawns mowed and then a terrific thunderstorm gave everything a soaking, perfect.

Just below the Sainsbury carpark is the Windrush River in Whitney so handy for another swim for dog , Omey, at days end.

Stick chasing in action.

Next day in the car early heading to Waddesdon Manor near Aylesbury. Hectares of parklands and the "Rothschild pile" as Jeff calls it. Owned by the National Trust since it was gifted in 1957.  No one actually lives there and has been open; house, gardens, aviary etc to public for 65 years. Some 500,000 people visit every year. It was built 1874-1889 as a weekend retreat and to entertain the rich and famous. Also houses an enormous art and antiques collection. Rothschilds hosted evacuated children and asylum to jewish boys over World War 2. These days exhibitions, sculpting, artists get opportunities. Various films, TV programmes are filmed there. 

Rothschild wanted to replicate the French Chateaux style. Very OTT but amassing wealth via banking can have that effect, apparently.

The usual scaffolding for the endless maintenance required.

Gardens were stunning 

The parklands were excellent with many large deciduous trees. Although we are members of the National Trust via Heritage NZ, we did not go into the house, aviary etc. We love these walks.

Good views over Buckinghamshire.

A chap at the hardware store in Witney, where Jeff bought replacement spouting, bracket, was a lapsed kiwi having lived in the UK for 24 years. He mentioned a great village to visit, walk and a river Omey could swim in called Bibury. There was also a cafe in the area called "The Country Kiwi" run by a chap from Invercargill no less.

Bibury is on the River Coln and was in the Doomsday book, 1086 AD. It is a major destination for tourists due to the row of weavers cottages from 1380, historic mill and fab teahouse. We were really only interested in the 8km river loop walk and so we were there by 8.30am and had the place to ourselves before the hoards, and heat arrived. Omey loved the swimming of course.

The most photographed Weavers cottages at 8.30am. Masses of selfie takers by 11am.

Delighted to walk past a white heron

What was the flour mill.

This is a family home just out of the village, hidden out of sight really.  

We called into the teahouse and met a couple who have made a business out of taking in greyhounds while owners are on holiday, good opportunity spotted. They are booked out until November taking four at a time plus their own called Fox. A bit drippy but a gentle soul, the greyhound that is.

The Country Kiwi cafe was very busy with lunch trade so not much of a chance to talk to the owner, Aaron. They stocked some kiwiana - pineapple lumps, Whittakers peanut slabs which the lass serving said they sell out of "all the time".

One of the joys of countryside UK is the public paths, bridleways, permissive paths everywhere. A field of wheat, barley etc will have a path right through the middle of it. These public right of way exist independently from land ownership originating from pilgrimage routes, Roman roads and Neolithic tracks.  We are never short of paths through woods, fields, along streams etc. In saying that, many rivers are "Private" for fishing.

Oxfordshire June 17th - 21st

The forecast for next week is to be in the mid 30C temps. Seems astounding if it happens. In anticipation we thought we would check out walks that have somewhere that the dog, Omey, can swim to cool off. We set off to the Minster Lovell loop from Crawley. Plan to walk a figure 8 with Crawley in the middle, second loop being Wychwood Way.

Minister Lovell Hall had beem a 15th century family home. They ultimately had to forfeit the property to the Crown in 1485 after fighting for Richard 3rd at the Battle of Bosworth.  Because Henry 7th won he passed a retrospective law that said anyone who supported King Richard 3rd has committed treason and land would be confiscated. Vast lands were taken making Henry 7th very powerful. Difficult to pick the right side in those days, forfeiture or execution or both was the outcome.

Certainly had been a functional grand residence. To the left of the above picture is a bend in the River Windrush, a clear Cotswold river. Omey was straight in. She loves swimming.  We made our way back through Crawley village towards the well known local pub, past the quinessental Cotswold homes.

We were rather taken by this piece of art in a window. Very effective, you took a double take.

The folks we are housesitting for left us some ordinance survey maps, general house notes and the best local pubs. Great names like the 'Lamb and Flag', 'Bird in Hand' and the ' The Lamb Inn'. Having completed the first 6km loop lunch was called for before the afternoons walking loop.

We sat outside under one of the umbrellas and Jeff was a starter for the Wednesday special, moi fancied a starter of goats cheese on toast.  They were delicious. The pub is family run, opening 11am each day. Omey behaved herself and sat quietly under the table. We then set off to walk the Wychward Way, which is an ancient forest on 500ha. It had been substantally larger but had been cleared for agriculture, villages etc. The British Navy cut down Oak and Ash trees in the 1770's for shipbuilding. It was a fabulous 7km loop.

This is part of what is called 'Five Ash Bottom Avenue' being the remnants of Ash trees still alive after 200+ years.  Astounding they continue to grow with hollow trunks.

A stone keep around a well.

Wild fallow deer come out of the woods to graze.

Following day we found the Windrush River again on a walk around Witney Lake. Can  park in the Sainsbury carpark (3 hours free) and cross over the road to the public walkway. Witney is the biggest town near us with all the essentials - Waitrose, independent shops, Boots, Marks and Spencers etc. 

Omey the swimmer. We keep our extender lead on her at all times. Jeff had to help her out at one stage as it was a bit steep and slippery getting out of the water.

A friend from Newcastle was down visiting family in Oxford , half an hour from here.  So we met Lesley at 'The Back Lane Pub' for lunch in Woodstock. We had sussed it out on Monday when we did the Blenheim Palace walk from Woodstock. Omey sat under the table and we had a lovely couple of hours catch up. She had moved from a large house and garden in Horncliffe to a modern Newcastle apartment when her husband died. Took quite a lot of adjustment but she is settled now. 

Over the years we have noted many changes to the English countryside and towns. Rewilding is the thing to do via government subsidy if you are not bothered to farm animals, cereals or food in general. Traffic islands, roadsides are let go, litter all along the 'A' roads. Many new housing blocks built on the edge of villages to home the 8 million extra inhabitants over the last 20 years. Traffic can be overwhelming and the Brits pet hate - potholes - the poor quality of general roading due to no maintenance and too may vehicles, particularly on the B ( provincial) roads.

Rewilding, thousands of hectares like this. England can not feed itself, no self reliance. Whereas NZ can feed itself multiple times over.

Your average 'B' road.

A by-election was held in Makersfield near Manchester on Friday and the winner is supposedly going to unseat the UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, and the usurper will solve all the UK problems, nirvana and prosperity will be achieved for all! Their present problems have been decades in the making and a further shift to the left will not fix the rot.

We wandered up the the local school fete yesterday morning. Was not up to much but Jeff enjoyed viewing a few classic cars on display.

We undertook an afternoon walk to Holly Grove - Conygar Copse from North Leigh on a 10km loop. We use a Komoot app which brings up a huge range of walks on public paths within a designated area; lets say within 10km of where we are housesitting. On the left are what I would call "Johnsons Blue" a perennial in our gardens but which seens to grow wild here.

We called in for a swift half pint on the walk. Can be tricky as having a snooze afterwards seems a better idea than walking another 5km in the woods.

These are accommodation huts behind the pub. Beauty of not being in a room over the bar, kitchen and having some quiet space.

Got to 30C today, Sunday, we walked the lake early, stocked up on groceries. Visited folks Jeff had met one morning, young couple with twin 12yr old boys. They are renovating one of the villages houses they live in, he runs a building business, she works for Mercedes. Exhausting.