Broadway Manor Cottages

Themed Farmers’ Markets are returning to Broadway on Sundays this summer starting at the end of May:

• Sunday 3oth May there will be an ‘Asparagus Themed Market’ on the Village Green to tie in with the British Asparagus Festival that takes place in the Vale of Evesham from 23rd April to 21st June 2010.
• Sunday 27th June, the middle weekend of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships, a ‘Strawberry Themed Market’ will take place on the Village Green.
• Sunday 15th August, the Village Green will be host to a ‘Plum Themed Market’ during the middle of the 2010 Pershore Plum Festival.

The Markets will open at 10am selling a wide range of local delicious produce. The stalls will be staffed by the producer, their family or an employee who is directly involved with the growing and production of the local products that will be on sale. A visit to a Farmers’ Market is healthy and fun for all ages and a great place to buy local food produced for local people!

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.

Broadway Manor Cottages receives a Silver Award from the Green Tourism Business Scheme 

Broadway, Worcestershire, 14^th December 2009

Broadway Manor Cottages is the first self catering holiday cottage business in Worcestershire to be awarded a prestigious SILVER grading by the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS) reflecting their dedication to sustainability and green tourism.

The GTBS is the UK’s leading green tourism certification scheme which recognises and rates businesses demonstrating high levels of commitment to protecting the environment and promoting sustainability with Bronze, Silver and Gold awards. The GTBS is now recognised by UK Government as a crucial part of its drive towards sustainability. Businesses are graded by a qualified assessor against over 150 separate measures of best practice, covering energy and water efficiency, waste management, bio diversity and more.

Broadway Manor Cottages, which has only been in business since October 2006, has managed to bring all of its five holiday properties up to the GTBS Silver standard which is awarded to businesses showing very good environmental practice. By agreeing to the GTBS Code of Conduct Broadway Manor Cottages has made a commitment towards reducing the impact of their business on the environment.

“We are very proud of our achievement which follows on from our successful completion of the VisitBritain Green Start scheme last year. We are dedicated to making our cottages and apartment some of the most environmentally friendly places to stay in Worcestershire and the Cotswolds.” said Debbie Williamson, owner of Broadway Manor Cottages.

The 4 star Cotswold holiday cottages and apartment are located in the grounds of a Cotswold Manor House dating back to the 16^th century a short walk from the centre of the Broadway. The surrounding grounds attract a wide variety of wildlife and guests are encouraged to shop locally and to leave the car behind and ‘Enjoy a Car Free Day’ as a number of footpaths, including The Cotswold Way National Trail cross the grounds.

“We closely monitor our water and energy usage and have recently installed solar power panels to heat some of the water used on site and have increased our loft insulation across all of our properties. We encourage our guests to recycle and compost and provide our guests with jute shopping bags to take shopping rather than use plastic bags. We will continue to look at other ways to reduce the environmental impact or our business such as the introduction of LED lighting and we hope to join a local Visitor Payback Scheme.” explained Debbie Williamson.