Cotswolds and Curses

The lush growth frenzy of early summer in The Cotswolds
- Abbey House Gardens in Malmesbury

WHEN WILL IT END?!

There. That's better.

Yes, dear reader, it's that time of the year again. I've been fairly uncomplaining until now, despite the fact that here in south-east England we skipped right past spring and hurtled headlong into summer. That was back in April, and aside from a few brief episodes of cooler weather, we have experienced unrelenting summer temperatures since then.

Most of the time it's been bearable - low to mid 20s. But we've also had three periods of seriously hot weather for this part of the world. Records have been broken. 

As I write, we are suffering through a three-week period of temps with daily maximums of 27-32ºC. I've had enough. Which is unfortunate, because the latest forecast is that we are to endure at least another week of it.

*curses!*

Exterior of our hotel for the weekend

Some weeks ago, when I realised that by July Kevin and I would only have spent three whole weekends together in the preceding couple of months, I took advantage of a special deal to stay in a boutique hotel which would ordinarily be out of our budget, in the historic town of Malmesbury.

Our bargain weekend included a welcome bottle of Prosecco
and fresh-baked cookies each day

View from the landing below our room, towards Malmesbury Clock Tower

One of the cosy lounge areas at The Old Bell Hotel

Breakfast time looking pretty with blue-and-white china
and a succulent with delicate pink flowers

View from our bedroom

The Old Bell is acknowledged to be the oldest hotel in England. Of course there are older buildings that are currently operating as hotels, but this one was purpose built to provide food and lodging to scholars visiting the Abbey next door... way back in 1220!

Malmesbury promotes itself as being in the Cotswolds, but technically this Wiltshire town is not; really the Cotswolds region is contained with Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. All the same, many of Malmesbury's buildings are constructed of the same honey-coloured Cotswolds stone, and some of the more well known Cotswolds villages are only a short drive away.

We arrived at The Old Bell early on Friday evening, and after a fairly unsatisfactory - and pricey - dinner in the hotel restaurant (very limited vegetarian options, average quality food and not great service), we strolled around the town, getting our bearings and enjoying the long northern hemisphere summer twilight.

This bell tower was once part of a church — St Paul’s, dating from the 15th century.
It now stands in splendid isolation

Malmesbury Abbey by night
(right next door to The Old Bell Hotel)

Our after-dinner walk gave us a beautiful and lengthy sunset
- this shot taken at about 9.45pm

The last sunlight of the day striking the top of the market cross

The next day we explored the town at length, with the first stop being the abbey - the entrance was just a few metres from our hotel's front door. 

The abbey was founded in 676, but construction of the building that stands today was not completed until 1180. By the 11th century Malmesbury Abbey contained the second largest library in Europe, and was considered one of the leading European seats of learning. Unfortunately the spire and tower collapsed in a storm around 1500, destroying much of the church, including two thirds of the nave and the transept.

King Æthelstan - regarded as the first English king (and previously King of the Anglo-Saxons) - is buried in the abbey, ensuring its historical significance. 

The 12th century door is framed by eight arches, decorated with what is
acknowledged as some of the finest Romanesque carving in England

The abbey was once double the current size, and some of the ruins of the original structure are still standing. 

And oh - joy of joys! - my eagle eye very quickly identified a Pre-Raphaelite element in The Luce Window, designed by Edward Burne-Jones and made by Morris & Company in 1901 (see picture below). What an unexpected delight. 

Since then I've discovered there is a further Pre-Raphaelite treasure just three miles south, at Holy Rood Church in Rodbourne. Apparently it contains some small windows designed by Ford Madox Brown and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. *drat*  Very sorry to have missed those.

Pre-Raphaelite gorgeousness in The Luce Window, Malmesbury Abbey

The vaulted ceiling of Malmesbury Abbey

After our lengthy trudge around the town in the summer heat - including a walk along the River Avon, which afforded us a very nice view of the town from below - we stopped for a light lunch in one of Malmesbury's pubs, before moving on to what is surely one of England's most beautiful gardens.

16th century wall of St John's Almshouses - which quite unusually incorporates
a Gothic arch from the 13th century Priory of St John

The town viewed from below - alongside the River Avon

Kevin checking out the menu options at The Smoking Dog

Dinner venue for our second night in Malmesbury - the very fun, very friendly
and excellent pizza / Italian joint, The Bird Cage

Abbey House Gardens is right next to the Abbey itself, and it's a truly glorious place. I am quite a fan of topiary (it appeals to my meticulous nature), and these gardens have it in abundance. Conversely, I'm a lover of rambling vegetation - again, no shortage of climbers in these gardens, plus below the main garden is a wild woodland area with a stream running through it.

Interestingly, from April to September, Abbey House Gardens hosts 'clothing optional' days. We were kind of glad we visited outside those dates, though we are all for personal liberty.

And finally, before driving home on Sunday we took an hour-long detour northwards to Chipping Campden where my former colleague, Julianne, moved a year ago. She still works in London, spending a couple of nights each week in her city pad in Croydon. The other two days she works from home.

Julianne tells us she still pinches herself to think that she lives in this gorgeous village - what a lucky gal she is.

Chipping Campden's beautiful town hall

Just look at that glorious, golden Cotswolds stone - the whole town is constructed in it

A gorgeous arrangement of blue-and-white china in this
bow window in Chipping Campden's high street

Towering hollyhocks adorning the front of cottages on
Chipping Campden's high street

Now you know how I feel about my adopted home of Farnham, and at the risk of boring readers to death, here are some more photos of this lovely town - this time in full summer bloom. Like Julianne, I constantly marvel at how fortunate I am to live here.

Cottage in the Long Garden Walk

House on historic Castle Street

Farnham Castle

Long shadows across a parched lawn at Farnham Castle

The ruins of the Castle Keep, towering above the gardens

Rambling roses on the outer (moat) wall of Farnham Castle

They built things to last in those days...
the Castle Keep, founded in 1138 but rebuilt in the late 12th century

This is the coolest place to be on a hot day - under the shade of
Farnham Park's one-kilometre-long avenue of trees

Uh-oh.
A couple of weeks of hot weather and Farnham Park is looking more like Canberra than Surrey

One of Farnham's lanes, offering welcome shade

These little plants are amazing - clinging to life atop a garden wall

Victoria Garden in the middle of Farnham.
This was once the site of open air baths (that's a public swimming pool to Aussies)

'Mixed bathing' - LOL!

One of Farnham's cutest pubs, looking perky with its vibrant hanging baskets

I await a reprieve from the hellish, endlessly sunny weather that everybody else seems to be enjoying. Even Kevin has found it impossible to escape this British heatwave, in a remote corner of the Isle of Skye (school trip). 

Apparently it has been the hottest and driest June since that record-breaking summer of 1977 - a Silver Jubilee year that witnessed the pinnacle of the punk uprising.

Any day now I expect to see John Lydon cruising down the Thames in a heat-induced state of defiance. Ah! Good times. God Save The Queen.

Until next time,
- Maree  xo