A Bimble round Winchcombe

Winchcombe is a chocolate box Cotswold town that will be heaving in the summer but is a great location for a spring visit. Early warmth encourages the Vale of Evesham to bloom in hope that April is not the cruellest month. The delicate blossom is out on its way already. Late snowdrops, crocuses and early daffodils carpet the gardens as the wisteria shows first signs of growth after careful pruning for the summer show.

 

 

 

Winchcombe has the full range of Cotswold stone houses from a row of almshouses to fine Georgian townhouses; cottages on Vineyard Street to timbered buildings yawning at frightening angles.   The tiny gardens are manicured and pruned to perfection and there is still a sense that there is a community here which is not just dependent on second homes and holiday lets. 

 

 A vigorous band of charity reps selling daffodils for Marie Curie assured me that there was a very active community who planned plenty of activities in the town, particularly for the 'silver surfer' generation. These were not your usual chuggers but retired residents who recommended Winchcombe for dog lovers and antique hunters. I can add cheese lovers to that list with some excellent delis selling platters that have survived after the local cheese rolling festivities.  Ramblers are well catered for with walks around Sudeley Castle and along the River Isborne which is more of a stream. It is interesting to see investment in a laid trail allowing access for all in this age of increasing mobility issues and American visitors.

St Peter's Church is a good place to start a visit for famous gargoyles.

 

 Gargoyle is a great word on its own and a symbol of that British sensibility of injecting a bit of fun amidst all the puritanism. These are comical renderings of beloved local characters and some are better than others. My favourite was the mad hatter and the 40 carvings allowed some light relief after I found a headless owl in the graveyard. I took this to be a supernatural portent rather than a reminder of the vicissitudes of rural life. This place held ghostly echoes of 1643 when Royalists were lined up against the church and executed due to allegiance with Sudeley Castle.  Further talk of musket ball holes and a gilded weathercock made me retreat to the safety of the town.

 

Winchcombe station is a fair walk from the town and would benefit from a more scenic and well signposted route between the two. A horse and cart journey would be a boon for some local entrepreneur allowing visitors to park outside the congested town in Summer.   The 15 minute walk along the road passes a cemetery with a miniature gingerbread church straight out of a Hansel and Gretel tale.

 

 Two great spruce trees guard those in repose and offer shelter to weary travellers.

My Grandfather used to say the best part of a steam train journey is the soft clunk and pull as the great engine lulls the carriages from the stationary. 

 

 I remember him relaxing in a cabin with his pipe waiting for this moment, pondering a bygone generation of steam and civility.  He would be heartened to know that steam is alive and well and burgeoning in some of the most picturesque spots in the UK.

 

The Cotswold line is supported by many volunteers and allows a shared vision of the importance of this idyllic journey to the local economy which is dependent on tourism.  In its irrepressible push onward towards the gingerbread town of Broadway, all honey coloured Cotswold stone backed by the Cotswold escarpment, the line is about to realise the full potential of passing through such a stunning countryside. 

 

  It is a ‘not so secret’ gem of the Cotswolds running from Toddington near Evesham to Cheltenham Racecourse with views to the ridge of the Cotswold Hills and over to Bredon Hill and The Malverns. 

 

 

 

 

Weather comes in fast in the Cotswolds and like the topogrphy and geology is an endless fascination. 

 

 The Vale of Evesham can get very cold. I remember driving through the area on Boxing Day 2013 and it was -15 with cars pulled up on the hard shoulder unable to use the frozen screen-wash.  On many other occasions I could leave Birmingham at 3pm in rain and be in the vale an hour later in brilliant sunshine. Its micro climate means it has an abundance of sun as the surrounding hills carry all the rainfall, perfect for ripening fruit.  This creates a dramatic landscape at times where the approaching Westerlies darken the skies.