A day in the Eastern Cotswolds

 Today was a lot of local strolling—- first around the village of Minster Lovell including the church of St Kenelm and the ruins of the Hall.  One sign of the wealth of the Lovell family was their stonebuilt dovecote; many descendants of those white doves still live in it and form an interesting contrast to the larger and more colorful native wood pigeons. Then we went on a 1.5 mile walk from one village to a second to a third. It is interesting that these villages feel quite isolated and yet they are really pretty close together. We visited the 12th century church of St Oswald (it’s the “newer building” on a site that may have been Roman and then mystic and then certainly a chapel in the doomsday book of 1086) sitting by itself in a hayfield. The assumption is that the church was not always alone, and that the lumpiness of the field disguises the ruins of a village wiped out by plague in the 14th century. 

We also saw a lot of stone walls dividing pastures that had vertical stones as the top edge— this is to help keep the sheep in the enclosures. Apparently sheep don’t like to jump over a wall but will happily jump onto the flat top of one, before jumping down to the other side. So if they can’t easily stand on the top of the wall they attempt the first jump. I was happy to see partridge and pheasants today, but the highlight (including for our guides) was to get a long close look at a barn owl at midday. 

At lunch we sampled elderflower (not elderberry) cordial, made by steeping the flowers in water for a few days, provided you have the right kind of elderberry bush. It tastes very floral, a little lemony and a little sweet, quite refreshing. It can be diluted to make a still or sparkling beverage, or even made into a mildly alcoholic champagne. We later discovered that there are elderflower gins and tonic waters also! In this part of England, elderflower is the flavor of early summer.

After lunch we went to a lovely house and garden. The garden was designed by Rosemary Veery, who is widely credited with reviving the cottage garden movement in England in the 1950’s-1980’s. The gardeners are trying to balance preservation of her legacy, the needs of the hotel that now operates in the house, and wildlife needs. One small example is a ramp built into a small waterlily pond to ensure that hedgehogs can safely come and get a drink without falling in and drowning. Our final outing of the day was to a local winemaker who is part of a movement to create a viable and competitive still (non-sparkling) wine industry in England.

For June 2: we are so lucky to have been here the week of the Queen’s platinum jubilee