Broadway Manor Cottages

Dry stone walling is an ancient rural skill that you can learn whilst staying in one of our Cotswold holiday cottages in Broadway. Courses in the art of dry stone walling are held throughout the year by the Cotswold Conservation Board in a number of locations in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Dry stone walls are an important feature of the British landscape and have existed in the Cotswolds since the Neolithic period 6,000 year ago when many of the long barrows on the Cotswolds had dry stone walls at their entrances and along their sides. Built of the local Jurassic limestone, most of the dry stone walls which can be seen today in the upland areas of the Cotswolds, separating the fields and lining the roadsides, were mostly built in the 18th and 19th centuries. 

Over recent years, many walls have fallen into a state of disrepair as the walls are expensive to maintain and can be replaced more cheaply with fencing. The art of dry stone walling was a dying skill throughout Britain. Today, however, dry stone walling is prospering with the recognition of the environmental value of walls, being a sustainable product made from natural materials.

With regular maintenance a dry stone wall can stand for well over 100 years and at the same time offer shelter and habitat for a wide variety of flora (walls are a particularly important habitats for lichens, mosses and ferns) and fauna (insects, spiders, snails, birds and small mammals such as voles, mice and rabbits).

This year, 2 day dry stone walling courses (£80 per person) are being held in the Cotswolds in Long Compton near Shipston-on-Stour starting on Saturday 1st May, near Tetbury starting on Saturday 17th April and Saturday 8th May, in Lansdown on Saturday 5th June and Saturday 24th July, at Huntsmans Quarry near Stow-on-the-Wold on Saturday 7th August, at Crickley Hill overlooking the Vale of Gloucester on Saturday 28th August and in Bradford on Avon on Saturday 2nd October.

Our Cotswold holiday cottages at Broadway Manor Cottages are open all year round and are an ideal location to stay whilst attending a dry stone walling course and learning a traditional rural skill. For more information about our holiday cottages in Broadway and the dry stone walling courses in the Cotswolds contact us.

The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway (’The Honeybourne Line’) is a fantastic steam railway that currently runs from Toddington (approximately 5 miles from our Cotswold holiday cottages in West End, Broadway) to Cheltenham Racecourse through the picturesque Cotswold countryside.

The route from Toddington to Cheltenham is a 20-mile round trip.  From Toddington the line passes by the National Trust’s Hailes Abbey, through Winchcombe (home of Sudeley Castle), occasionally stopping at Gotherington Halt (on request) and on to the station at Cheltenham Racecourse. Trains pass through some of the most spectacular scenery with fantastic views across the Vale of Evesham towards the Malvern Hills and of Cleeve Hill near Cheltenham, the highest point in the Cotswolds.

Trains operate on certain days of the year and during the summer months and Bank Holidays there is a frequent service. The GWR also runs trains to and from Cheltenham Racecourse on race days (trains run during Cheltenham Gold Cup Festival week in March and the Cheltenham Open in November) and holds many special events during the year. Last year ‘Hogwarts Express’ (no. 5972 “Olton Hall”) from the Harry Potter films was a popular visitor and Thomas the Tank Engine often puts in an appearance.

This year the GWR is celebrating its 175^th anniversary with the Cotswold Festival of Steam from 29th May and 6th June 2010. Many events and themed days are planned and there will be an impressive array of locomotives and displays.

A visit to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway is always a great way to spend time whilst visiting the Cotswolds and the Cotswold Festival of Steam will no doubt appeal to all ages.

For this and other Cotswold events in 2010 click here.

The inaugural Broadway Ars Festival will be held in Broadway in the North Cotswolds from Friday 11th to Sunday 20th June 2010. The 2010 Festival is dedicated to John Singer Sargent RA and the Broadway Colony.

On Sunday 3rd January 2010, The Independent on Sunday highlighted the Festival as a must-see attraction for those on ’staycations’ in June and reported that the events being held in the village will be a great way to pass the time while staying in a Cotswolds holiday cottage.

The 2010 Festival is the first of a series of biennial Festivals that will take place in the village to celebrate the link Broadway has with the painter John Singer Sargent and other members of the Broadway Colony; Henry James, Frank Millet, Mary Anderson, Alfred Parsons, Edwin Austin Abbey, Edmund Gosse and Sir James M Barrie.

The Festival opens on Friday 11th June with an exhibition of Sargent’s work at Trinity House, High Street, Broadway. Paintings by other members of the Broadway Colony will also be on show. During the week there will also be a Flower Festival, musical concerts, plays, talks, tours and an art and craft exibition.

Indeed, Festival week in June will be a great time to visit Broadway and the Cotswolds. For more information click here.

     For details of our Cotswold holiday cottages; Willow Cottage (sleeps 4),
Corner Cottage (sleeps 4), The Stables (sleeps 3), Sheldon Cottage (sleeps 2) and Rafters (sleeps 2)
visit our website http://www.broadwaymanor-cottages.co.uk.

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