Old Campden House, Hidcote Gardens ..... and other stuff !



Well !

 

I can't believe how long it has been since my last blog!

 

...  Seriously missing my blogging, and with things at Crafty Cottage and No.6 having now settled into a good routine with guests arriving/leaving on a regular basis, and the "changeover" days appearing to be relatively under control I was totally inspired by the town's attractions recently, - so grabbed my camera, my sunglasses and my husband (in that order!) and headed out incognito hopefully blending in with the many tourists that descended on Chipping Campden for the Open Gardens and other local events.

Sunday 22 June was my first day of exploration, - and what a day!  .... glorious sunshine.   My first achievement was to get Paul to pass The Eight Bells and head towards Old Campden House, - which now owned by The Landmark Trust was open to the public during that particular weekend.  This doesn't happen very often - and certainly a first for us both .. 

Keen to see the two pavilions or banqueting houses across the field, like many others we walked through the gateway which was once the grand entrance to Old Campden House, (to the right of the church) -   It must have been such a beautiful Jacobean Mansion in its day, sadly destroyed by fire in 1645 ... just a little before our time!

We were also keen to make comparisons, as the Landmark Trust is a building preservation charity that rescues historic buildings at risk and 'let's them for holidays : the banqueting houses sleep 6 & 4 people.  It was very interesting but impossible to compare them with Crafty Cottage !!  -  two totally different types of accommodations. The Landmark Trust

You can even see the wool in the field here, - where the sheep had obviously been sheared during the last couple of days!

 

It was a glorious sunny day, - and as we left the Campden House grounds I kept my half of the bargain ... and we made our way to the Eight Bells for a light lunch!   just a hop skip and a jump away from the church, (*the historic Eight Bells actually housed the stone masons who built the church!)

 

 

Our short walk beside the Almshouses en route to the Pub, somewhat compared to a scene from any episode of Midsomer Murders! - as the morris men were gathering in readiness to perform ...

 

 

 

... such exhibitionists !

 

------------

 

- catching up with myself - a few weeks later I visited the beautiful Hidcote Gardens with my great friend and bridesmaid "Trude" (of Crafty Cottage/No.6 curtain fame!)

 

  

 

   

 

We had a lovely morning, it was good to see the "White Garden" which was the inspiration for the Arts and Crafts garden at Crafty Cottage.

 

(I did actually take in excess of 70 photos which can be found on Crafty Cottage Facebook )

 

If I had to give a "tip" for anyone visiting Hidcote Gardens, that would be to take a stroll down the little lane through the village (hamlet?) - as most people seem to head for the car or the tea rooms after the gardens!  -  the village itself is beautiful .....

 

  

  

 

.. another tip would be to grab a copy of "Attractions & Events 2014" which has a 2 for 1 discount voucher inside which saves you £11  !

 

 

 

As we left Hidcote behind us, - lunch and a "natter" was very much on the agenda.

 

After a lot of deliberation and driving around we decided on ....

 

 

The Horse and Groom at Bourton on the Hill.



 

We had a lovely meal, - and it is a place that holds special memories for Trude in particular, as this was when and where she sent her first "Tweet" ( .... on Twitter !!!) ..

 and the fabulous "COTTAGE CURTAINS" was created alongside a wonderful photo of the huge portion of fish and chips infront of her :-) !

 

----------

 

...... jumping back on the time machine and catching up with myself,

 

 

there have been many days over the past couple of months when the sun has been shining and the days (and views) have been wonderful!

 

Yes, the weather has been good for most of the time, and guests staying at Crafty Cottage - and Number Six have been very lucky to see our part of the Cotswolds in all its glory!

 

 

 

The Lavender fields at Snowshill were particularly picturesque ...

 

and you just never know what you are going to

come across up in the hills and around the corner!

 

 

 

(Snowshill)

 

 

....  and to bring things up to date,

inspired by a gorgeous sunny afternoon yesterday - I wandered around town, which certainly didn't disappoint me with photo opportunities!

 

 

 

I ended up at the beautiful Church in Chipping Campden ......

 

  

 

 

 

Wandering around the churchyard, - I came across the Arts and Crafts and modest gravestone of Gordon Russell,

 

Gordon Russell Museum

 

 

....  and "being a local"   my grandparents too ..........

 

 

-------

 

 

.... having now caught up with things - blog wise! - I will endeavour to keep the trusty blog updated on a more regular basis.

 

It is now almost 1 year - since our very first guests stayed in Crafty Cottage

"Hello Judi and Ian"  :-) !!

we have had so many lovely and friendly people from all over the world stay in the cottages, and I  know some of them have enjoyed glancing at the Blog, - to re-kindle the memories of their holidays in Chipping Campden.

 

We (that's the "royal we" .... it's really just me !) have embraced social media

... sometimes I haven't a clue what I'm doing - but thankfully I don't seem to have upset anyone yet!

I tweet on a VERY regular basis! - I update the Facebook page with photos (tweets go on there too!)

I have just added my first YouTube video of Crafty Cottage - (very much a beginners effort!)

and so "fingers crossed" things are going well at the moment!

 

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog....

 

.....  I will of course be keeping you posted!

 

 

The Postbox @ Hidcote

 

 

 

-S-

 

 

 

 

"No.6" the big reveal !!

"Crafty Cottage" and "No.6" now stand side by side as our Cotswold holiday cottages in Chipping Campden, just off the High Street, directly infront of The Old Silk Mill, both with off road parking, wifi, and everything we imagine visitors to the town would need, - including only being a few steps away to the nearest Pub for that all important Pint !

 

 

Finally, after weeks of drilling, sanding, painting, cleaning, gardening ....... and sleeping! (the latter 'ing much preferred!) we are able to add photos of our new holiday cottage "No.6" to the blog:

 



We still have some "tweaking" to do - particularly with the paintwork - my fault entirely as I was in charge of the magnolia roller, and I do have the habit of painting half the ceiling when i'm only supposed to do the walls!   ... (and half the walls when i'm doing the ceiling! :-)  In the meantime - we decided to stick with what we know best & have used William Morris Strawberry Thief fabric for the soft furnishing side of things - which looks great! (Thanks Trude - big hug :-)

Despite being over 100 years old (the cottage - not Trude!),  "No.6" has perhaps a slightly more contemporary feel to the ground floor particularly, and with a little more space to play with, we are on the look out for a decent armchair, & perhaps another side table or two so I feel another trip to Barn Antiques coming on in the not too distant future !

The lovely pine dresser had belonged to Paul's mum Daisy, - and it's nice to see it decorating the wall in such a useful way - each time I glance at it - I must admit I think of her :-) x 



 

The spacious lounge leads towards the kitchen at the rear of the cottage, - in much the same way as with Crafty Cottage next door, although I am wondering whether anyone will be taking full advantage of such a lovely range cooker when Chipping Campden has so many wonderful restaurants!  - and people will be on holiday afterall ........ they won't want to cook will they? ?!  (that's my way of hinting, I don't fancy cleaning an oven that size  very often, - thank you very much !!)

 

 

 

And upstairs,  - "No.6" currently has 2 bedrooms and a bathroom.  The first bedroom has a double bed & looks lovely and cosy (as a Cotswold cottage should be!) :-)

 

 





 

The second bedroom has a King Size bed, which can be split to twin beds when necessary ...

 

 

The bathroom is off the landing to the rear and has a lovely view from the window over neighbouring cottage rooftops & gardens, with the Old Silk Mill standing proudly over the terrace, where the guildsmen first lived when they came to Chipping Campden in 1902.   "No.6"  was the first home of Mr. & Mrs Osborn and their three sons.  Mr. Osborn was originally an ivory worker - although following the decline of the ivory trade was given work in the silversmith's shop at The Guild.



With the sun pouring through the windows, on a day like today it's easy to see how either of the cottages are going to be such lovely places for people to stay when they visit Chipping Campden!  -  ...... looking forward to the next chapter of the Crafty Cottages book ! and now I have put  the magnolia roller down for the final time, I will be able to keep you updated with more regular blogs !!

 

-S-

 

Please Like us on Facebook! 

Follow us on Twitter

 

or of course - come and stay in one of our cottages !

 

 

 

 

 



Bacon Butties, Castles & Fish & Chips!

In the mood to Blog again! and  share the products of my new camera ... and gloat :-)

The day started by my friend Denise joining me, we had been invited to visit Sudeley Castle and on the way to Winchcombe took the opportunity to call off for a quick coffee and bacon butty at Hayles Fruit Farm .   Just a quick visit but worth it as we discovered the farm shop with loads of jams, chutney, Cotswold meringues and of course apple juice! ..... no doubt in my mind we'll be back :-) !

Sudeley Castle had beckoned, and what a wonderful place!  less than half an hour's drive away and so picturesque and scenic.

 

 

 

 

 

The weather wasn't too bad,  - a few spits of rain, then lovely sunshine!  - Thank goodness Denise had her emergency sunglasses with her :-)

 

 we both thought one of the most amazing things of the morning was to see so many signatures, - Elizabeth I, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Florence Nightingale!

 



 



 

We had spent a refined morning at Sudeley,-  almost like Downton Abbey sisters !  and it was now time to hot foot it to the nearest pub in Winchcombe which just happened to be the White Hart / Wine & Sausage where we had the most delicious fish & chips!  .....  can life really get any better than this ? 

 

mobile photo - a bit fuzzy!


 

... and finally!

 

following a mooch around one of the little shops in Winchcombe

I couldn't resist the William Morris Strawberry Thief trinket box

to add to the cottage!

 

 



such a fab day!

 

-S-

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our tick list ... past - present & future :-) !

Another good week has passed, .... once again lovely guests at the cottage -and  during a walk around town Tuesday evening I called in to meet them both.  It was great to see how comfy they were finding Crafty Cottage and they were such nice people who had obviously enjoyed their time in the Cotswolds.   .... it was also so sweet of them to leave a 'thank you' card & gift from their part of the world when they left!  Thank you :-)

 

 

Feedback and reviews are very important to us, and during the last couple of days we were also lucky enough to receive our second TripAdvisor review for the cottage which was great to see appear online:   Thank you Sean B from Rugby!

 

... there are only a few things left before Crafty Cottage is fully 'complete' in our eyes! and this week were able to remove the bed valance from our tick list :-)    Soft furnishings at the cottage have been a very important thing for me in particular, and a visit from 'Joy' yesterday brought everything together!                                                                                                                                                                      

Joy and her daughter have a wonderful little shop hidden away behind Chipping Campden High Street  - an Aladin's cave of fabrics, tiebacks & finials..  

 

 

 Joys Sewing Chipping Campden

(if you visit via Google you can get a peek around their shop!)

  ..........

 Meanwhile ....  outside in the Crafty Cottage garden ....

an up to date peek at what's going on,  ... and growing up !

 









The Clematis is growing very quickly up the gatepost to the garden, and has now reached the archway,  escapee shoots and buds are now starting to peep through the fence panel to the big wide world outside of the garden ... which will in future years enhance the drive and pathway, so they're forgiven for their sins !

 

Our first Lily

 

 


The weather just lately has been perfect for the garden, giving all the new plants a good start to the summer.  - Our visitors book mentions how some guests have already shared a bottle of wine in our little "sun trap" !  which was great to read :-)

...  thinking we should be adding a garden parasol to the tick list :-)


Another thing on our list for the future has always been a second cottage if possible ..  hopefully in the next couple of years or so,  as we have enjoyed creating Crafty Cottage.  Little did we know it was going to be a matter of months, not years when this would be happening ! - and we are really chuffed and excited to be adding the cottage next door to Crafty Cottage as our next project :-)

"No 6" has 2 bedrooms so it is great that we will also be able to accommodate families, or couples travelling together.   We have some tweaking to do, - put the Crafty Cottage mark on the place! - but it should be up and running in time for the summer season this year hopefully :-) .... a doddle !!

In the meantime,  I will leave you with the view from the bathroom window of the new "No.6"



Cottages on the High St.

So,  exciting times ahead,  ....  will be keeping you posted again of course :-) !!

 As usual you can follow us on Facebook

Like us on Facebook

Twitter
Tweet Me :-)!
 Pinterest


The Old Silk Mill

 photos of Crafty Cottage, Chipping Campden & The Cotswolds
Phone us, write to us, shout at us!
 

and of course by keeping a regular eye on this, - our Blog :-)!

-S-