TV and Film Locations in Gloucestershire

See Guide to TV and Film Locations

The other day I took some New Zealand journalists to visit a magical place in the Forest of Dean called Puzzlewood. Could this ancient landscape have given JRR Tolkein inspiration for Middle Earth?

It is known that JRR Tolkein knew the Forest of Dean well. He took part in an archaeological dig on a Roman Temple at Lydney Park near here, the temple remains were on top of a hill once called Dwarf Hill.

Legend says that 20 years after the Romans left Britain in 400AD the local people became frightened of the hill with all its tunnels and ruins believing that lots of little people such as dwarves and hobgoblins lived there, so the whole complex was left alone for over 1000 years.

It is said that Tolkein was influenced by the mythology surrounding the site and 3 years later he wrote his famous book, The Hobbit followed by The Lord of the Rings trilogy. So its quite likely that he visited this mysterious ancient woodland area too, which in 1929 was only known about by a few people. Who knows?

Filming for Lord of the Rings took place in New Zealand, so no claims here for that. However this place has been used as a location for the television series Merlin based on the historical legends of King Arthur and also the new Dr Who series called Weeping Angels.

For more information on guided tours by Anne Bartlett

A walk around the Sherborne Estate, Gloucestershire

By Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

Today I'm going to recommend an easy, interesting family walk in the Cotswold countryside.

The walk is around the National Trust land at Sherborne Park just off the A40 between Northleach and Burford. This is an easy 21/2 mile walk which should take around an hour and a half to complete. There are lots of things to discover on the way, such as wildlife sculptures, the village church, an ice house, stone quarry and many more. Parking is available at the Ewepens car park. There is no access to the magnificent Sherborne House which is private property but it can be seen through the trees during the walk.

A very good guide about the walk can be downloaded from the internet. It’s a pdf file from the National Trust and is titled Sherborne Family Fun Walk. I find it very useful to take with me, particularly if there are children in the group, to help them find the 15 points of interest along the way.

The history of Sherborne is interesting. During the Middle Ages the Sherborne Estate was part of a huge area owned by Winchcombe Abbey. The monks kept large flocks of sheep which grazed on the pastures all round the Cotswolds. At shearing time the sheep were rounded up and brought to Sherborne where there was a fast flowing brook for washing them before shearing. You can see the brook and its waterfall during the walk. Merchants came from Flanders and Italy to buy the fleeces and paid the Abbey large sums of money, making it very wealthy.

Winchcombe Abbey was dissolved in 1539 and a Thomas Dutton bought the estate and built himself a stately home. The house you see today is the second house on the site, the first one was carefully dismantled, the stones numbered and stored for re using in the second building in 1830.

The Duttons and their descendants lived at Sherborne for about 400 years. Probably the most interesting member of the family was a Sir John Dutton known as Crump Dutton who was one of the richest men in England. He was a passionate gambler, and built 17th century Lodge Park nearby, as a grandstand to entertain friends and gamble on the deer coursing that took place there. History books say that on one of his all night gambling sessions he rashly staked Sherborne Estate, but when his servant heard spectators saying “Sherborne’s up” he rushed in and removed his master bodily from the table and took him home.

Despite all the gambling and high living the Dutton family managed to hold on to Sherborne House until the second world war when it was taken over by the army and the Duttons moved into Lodge Park and made it their home.

Sherborne later became a school before being sold and in the 1980’s it was converted to private apartments. In 1983 Charles Dutton the 7th Lord Sherborne died without any heirs and the land was gifted to the National Trust. It’s through this gift that we are able to enjoy this lovely countryside.

A walk along the MacMillan Way from Chastleton to Adlestop

By Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

I’m going to recommend a walk along part of the Macmillan Way from Chastleton to the village of Adlestrop in Gloucestershire.

The Macmillan Way, is a long distance footpath, which was given its name to raise awareness of the work of MacMillan, an organisation that supports people affected by cancer.

This section of the walk is particularly interesting as you pass an Iron Age Hill fort, stroll through leafy woods as well as enjoying lovely views.

As you get towards the village of Adlestrop, at the fork in the road you may be surprised to see the name of the village written on a chocolate and brown coloured railway sign positioned at the back of a bus shelter. There’s also a bench with a metal plaque attached to the back rest. On closer inspection you will be able to see that there is a poem inscribed on the plaque which starts.

Yes I remember Adlestrop
The name because one afternoon,

Of heat the express train drew up there

Unwontedly. It was late June

The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat,
No-one left and no one came
On the bare platform. What I saw
Was Adlestrop – only the name.

You can read the entire poem in the bus shelter. The poem was written in about 1915 by Edward Thomas (one of the Dymock poets) just before he was tragically killed in action during the 1st World War. Adlestrop station is no more. It was demolished in 1966. The sign and the platform bench are all that remain of a station made famous by one chance stop, and the opportunity of a passenger to write a poem.

A walk into the pretty village takes you past honey coloured cottages and an attractive thatched Post Office. Head towards the church and you will learn of another famous writer who visited Adlestrop.

The Reverend Thomas Leigh, rector of the church in the late 18th and early 19th century, was Uncle to Jane Austen. Jane, her mother and sister Cassandra came to stay with him on a number of occasions.

And it’s probable that the grounds of Adlestrop Park and Adlestrop Rectory which you can see through the trees were landscaped by the great Humphry Repton and were mentioned in Jane’s novel Mansfield Park.

This is just a small village with some powerful literary connections. A stroll back to the village post office will enable you to buy some refreshments, teas and coffees and some delicious home made cakes.

A walk to the Source of the River Thames

By Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

It was nearly 2,000 years ago that Roman invaders settled on two hills above a wide tidal river, it was the perfect place for the soldiers and merchants to build a town which they called Londinium. The river which wove its way past this settlement was The River Thames, and it not only gave the Romans a good defensive site but was also recognised and developed because of its strategic and commercial importance. Today Londinium has become London and is now one of the major capital cities of the world and all along the banks of the River Thames so many historical sights and connections to our nations past.

Bur how many people who visit Gloucestershire from London realise that the River Thames rises here in our county in a field just outside Cirencester. Today I’m going to take you to the source of that River, the great river that made London.

For the short walk to find the source of the River Thames I suggest that you follow the footpath south of the village of Coates, nr Cirencester and make your way towards the village of Kemble as shown on Explorer map 168. The route is visible as it’s been trodden down by the many walkers who have gone before. You’ll have open fields on your right and after a short walk come to a wood on your left. The source of the Thames is situated at the top of the field beyond the trees. This remote site and the start of the Thames walk is marked by a sturdy wooden signpost with two signs pointing straight ahead. The top sign reads Thames Path and has a black acorn symbol alongside to show that it’s a national trail. The bottom sign gives the distance of the path all the way to the Thames Barrier, beyond London, - a whopping 184 miles or 294 Kilometres. That is where the footpath finishes but the River has another 30 miles to go before it gets to Southend and finally flows into the English Channel.

Close to the signpost there’s a large engraved stone to mark the source of the river. This marker replaced a reclining stone sculpture of a long haired, bearded and bare chested Father Thames, a much more fitting symbol for England’s greatest river. It was increasing vandalism that meant that in 1974 the statue had to be taken away to be repaired. Sadly the statue was never returned. Old Father Thames was found a new home and now reclines alongside St John’s lock at Lechlade.

Beyond the marker stone there’s a circle of small stones on the ground under a very old ash tree, this marks the spring and in very wet weather may produce a small puddle, but when I was there, there it had dried up, as is often the case, so, no chance to drop a stick into water here and watch it float its way down river. The source of the Thames, for most of the year is an underground supply of water and I had to cross two fields and the A433, the Fosse Way, to find the evidence of the proper river flowing above ground. From here the river meanders past the Gloucestershire villages of Kemble and Ewen and on towards Somerford Keynes and The Neigh Bridge Country Park, which is a landscaped flooded gravel pit, in the Cotswold Water Park. Here you can rest, enjoy a picnic and watch the wildlife, and maybe recall the story of the Wind In the Willows, when mole held up both fore-paws and gasped “Oh my, oh my”, because he thought the river so very beautiful.

A visit to Snowshill Manor in Gloucestershire

By Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

Near the village of Broadway in the North Cotswolds is Snowshill Manor, a National Trust property which is open to the public. It displays over 20,000 assorted items of fine craftsmanship from toys to spinning wheels, furniture to musical instruments as well as Japanese armour collected by the eccentric Charles Paget Wade.

Charles Paget Wade owned sugar plantations in St Kitts in the West Indies and was extremely wealthy.

It was in 1918 that he came across an advertisement for Snowshill Manor, it was then a rather dilapidated Cotswold stone house, which was advertised for sale in the Country Life Magazine. Charles Paget Wade was curious, but he was abroad and it wasn’t until a year later that he was able to travel to the village and inspect the property. He decided to buy the manor house and the 14 acres of land that surrounded it.

Having bought the house he set about repairing and restoring the place, employing 28 workmen from Gloucester. They stayed at the manor during the week sleeping in the attic. Apparently one of the workmen felt the house to be haunted and refused to stay any longer than one night.

During this time Wade commissioned Baillie Scott a London architect to design his garden, which is set out very much in the Arts and Crafts style.

It is thought unlikely that Wade ever lived or even thought of living in the Manor House. He saw it purely as a place to display his great collection of objects. Instead he chose to live very simply in a small cottage in the courtyard at the back.

Queen Mary visited Snowshill Manor in 1937. She showed great interest in Charles Wades collection but she is reported to have said that the finest thing in the house was Chales Wade himself.

Charles Wade gave Snowshill Manor and its contents to the National Trust in 1951 and went back to St Kitts to live. He visited England in 1956 but was taken ill whilst staying in Broadway. He died shortly afterwards in Evesham hospital and is buried in Snowshill churchyard.

Snowshill Manor House is open during the week from Wednesday to Sunday from midday to 5 0’clock in the afternoon. Entry is by timed ticket on a first come first served basis. The garden, the shop, restaurant and grounds open at 11o’clock, so an hour before the actual house opens.

For more information about visiting Snowshill Manor you can telephone 01386 852410