Tuesday 6 April 2021

Easter Sunday

Current Government instructions state stay local, so local we remained. Next week, however, things will be different - a long awaited hair cut will be on the cards, a visit to a shop selling non-essentials - we badly need a good reading light, and we shall also be able to spread our wings and travel further away from home.

Easter Sunday dawned hot and sunny, so we packed a picnic, and headed out to walk along a local valley. 

 

Sherborne is a linear village extending for more than a mile through the Windrush valley besides a small river tributary to the River Windrush.

The river was used during the medieval period to wash the flocks of sheep belonging to the monks of Winchcombe Abbey.

The valley is home to Sherborne House, a large property which has been greatly changed and altered over the centuries. As far back as 1087 a property on the site was mentioned as being in the possession of the abbots of Winchcombe. 
During the 17th century part of the house was altered and redesigned by Inigo Jones. 
In the mid c20th the house was used as a private boarding school, but in the 1980s the stable block, the outbuildings and the whole of the house were converted into privately owned appartments.
Passing through the churchyard in search of the return woodland walk, the large number of cherubic Cotswold stone tombstones glowing in the bright sunlight caught our attention.
Finally some welcome shade, and a
place to rest,
and the road home, but not before passing
by the Hunting Lodge to Sherborne House, now owned by the NT. Currently it is closed to visitors until circumstances change.
To my eye it resembles a small Italian palazzo sitting here in the middle of the Cotswold countryside.

33 comments:

  1. Thanks for taking us on this lovely walk, Rosemary. I learned something new - I didn't know that people, monks or otherwise, washed their sheep!

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    1. I am sure that you know that sheep washing is still carried out today but in special dipping troughs only. This is in order to control mites and lice etc. Of course the water today contains agents to kill off any parasites.

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  2. Love that charming dragonfly bench!

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  3. Waht a nice outing to take with you. I also love the bench.

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  4. Dearest Rosemary,
    That was a very interesting historic and sunny walk!
    Too bad those cherubic tombstones are being overgrown by moulds...
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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    1. Dear Mariette - that is lichen which has developed on the stonework over a very long period. It also points to the fact that the atmosphere in the area is very clean and pure. Personally I like those touches of golden lichen and they do no harm to the stonework.

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  5. Hello Rosemary, Sherborne house must have been something in its day! In fact, it still is--what a treat to go walking there. I just got my own hair cut today--that still counts as local, however, since my hair cutter is directly across the street from me.
    --Jim

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    1. Hello Jim - we enjoyed a lovely day out. My hairdresser rang me up today, and offered me an appointment for next Wednesday. I can't wait, it is six months since my last cut, and it is driving me crazy.

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  6. Dear Rosemary - all absolutely lovely - what fabulous walks you find and share with us.
    The dragonfly seat is so beautiful - and the little girl with butterfly wings so sweet.
    I'll take an Italian palazzo any day BTW!!!!!
    Good news re: hair salons and non-essential shopping coming up - not that they are better than a walk in the always amazing spring countryside.
    Mary XX

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    1. Dear Mary - the small hunting lodge would make a very beautiful home.
      My hairdresser rang this afternoon, so a haircut in now booked for next week, something that I desperately need X

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  7. What a lovely place to walk on a sun-drenched spring day. The photo of the little girl with the gossamer wings is charming, and indicative of how we all feel in wanting to spread our wings and venture a little further from home. A new haircut will feel wonderful! The UK is doing so well with its vaccine program!

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    1. The vaccines need to be spread more generously - I looked on the Worldometer for coronavirus last night and Brazil had over 4,000 deaths in one day. They desperately need help from us all.

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  8. That tombstone has my family emblem. The head of a winged cherub. You winged butterfly above it is charming.

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    1. Very appropriate for one who works with stone.

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  9. Lovely photos, specially that first one!

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  10. Dear Rosemary - Looks like a perfect day for a picnic. But it might have been a little too hot for continuous walking. I’d be okay, as I’d stop each place marveling and taking photos… like you. The wooden dragonfly is a pleasant surprise. I’d wonder if I can sit on it. Talking of haircut, I I was fortunate to have been able to my hair done every 6 weeks or so since last June. Enjoy yourself at the hairdresser’s and shops.

    Yoko

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    1. Dear Yoko - yes, the dragonfly is a seat. We were pleased to be able to rest awhile before continuing with our walk.
      My hairdresser has now made me an appointment for next week. I usually have it cut every 8 weeks, and I was due a haircut just after lockdown happened in December.

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  11. Dear Rosemary,
    Oh those large expanses of spring flowers. How I would love to walk amongst them.

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    1. Dear Gina - The flowers look really beautiful - daffodils, various shades of anemome blanda, and violets too.

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  12. I enjoyed this walk. A place we don't know very well so thank you for sharing. xx

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    1. There are many valleys to explore in the area, but most of them are hidden down narrow country lanes and off the beaten track.

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  13. What a lovely place to picnic, and you were so lucky with the weather .

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    1. We were fortunate that Easter Sunday resembled an early summers day, but it was short lived, today it is chilly.

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  14. Spring always adds extra sparkle to any walk. Easily my favourite season. Really enjoyed exploring the Cotswolds years ago. Not a bad area to be confined in although I bet even there you are wishing for more travelling distance to come in soon.

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    1. We are all so used to being free to please ourselves where we go, when, and how - times have changed more than any of us could ever have imagined.

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  15. What a delightful walk. Love the dragonfly.

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    1. The walk was uplifting - it did us good.

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“You can't stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you - you have to go to them sometimes”

― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh