Cotswold Horse Tours

10/11/2024

Remembrance Sunday

06/11/2024

The planet Mars suspended in the nave of Gloucester Cathedral. Rather beautiful but far more mysterious and much less familiar than the moon that was floating in the same space a couple of years ago.

25/10/2024

Stow Horse Fair. This is a really ancient fair, dating back centuries in an important market town set on five roads. Today the fancy horses, the good saddlery and agricultural equipment have disappeared onto the Internet and specialist sales and it has become a gypsy fair, celebrating the unique culture of Travellers and Gypsies. There are still horses for sale: the classic hairy cobs unique to the British Isles. I arrived too late to see them being "flashed". The term "chav" used a few years ago as a disparaging term for "a young person of a type characterized by coarse and brash behaviour" comes from a Romani word "chavi" meaning "child" (and earlier, Hindi). So the amount of fake brands, gold jewelry and extreme bling for sale on rather sketchy market stalls was fascinating. The classic Romany Bow Top wagons, of which there were several, arrived on trailers, often towed by new high-end 4x4s. Women, glammed up to the max, sat in folding chairs beside a smoking wood fire complete with a tripod and kettle, celebrating elements of the heritage. Men in little clumps discussed sales and horses and dodgy deals. Every pub in town was closed.

24/10/2024

Stormed Chepstow Castle, after coffee and before a light lunch in the town. Possibly one of the best castles I've visited, full of fascinating corners to dig into, beautiful views over the river and a pleasantly relaxed attitude to signs and barriers!

09/10/2024

That time of the year again, when the Mop appears for an afternoon and evening before it vanishes for seven days, only to return for a second go. The town shops are open as usual all day though the roads are closed around the market place. It is slightly surreal and that is why I love it!

03/10/2024

The beginning of autumn in the Cotswolds

23/09/2024

A wet but fun weekend at Blenheim Palace International. This year was notably international with several French and German riders visiting, as well as the UK-based ones

16/09/2024

12/09/2024

Frampton Country Fair at the weekend, with all the necessary animals, machinery, crafts, food, displays. A good day out

06/09/2024

Fence judging in an old orchard. Each tree was a different apple variety and everyone - officials, participants, connections - was scrumping the fruit. Nothing like a fresh apple.

30/08/2024

There is something about stairs designed by Edwin Lutyens. These are at Hestercombe, near Taunton. I can't put my finger on it....

04/08/2024

Some pictures taken just a few fields downstream from the official source of the River Thames. I presume the water goes underground rather than completely stops. It is interesting living in a limestone landscape.

26/07/2024

Random street in a Cotswold village whilst I argue with my phone about downloading pictures from a visit to Badminton House stables.

18/07/2024

3500 years of human history. The churchyard at Ogbourn St Andrew, Wiltshire, is an extremely rare combination of both a pagan and a Christian site. The barrow was excavated in the mid-19th century, when 22 human skeletons were found a metre or so below the surface, possibly medieval - but why so many people? Then, below them, a high status Saxon coffin burial, possibly an early conversion to Christianity. Finally the early bronze age burials of the people who built the earthwork. The present church dates from the early Norman period when the Saxon church was replaced. Apparently four other barrows, now ploughed out, are located close by and the field next to the churchyard, currently set up for dog agility, has archeological evidence of a substantial medieval farming complex. For such a quiet little village, a lot has happened here and obviously a place that held great significance for a long, long time.

16/07/2024

Another day at the office... Barbary Castle Horse Trials, which always has extraordinary skies

12/07/2024

Making hay while the sun shines

10/07/2024

The other side of our fence, a hedge, looking out over miles of Cotswold countryside. The weather, however, was not as charming.

28/06/2024

Gloucestershire in June. Rather a nice place to be.