Visiting Chastleton House - film location for Wolf Hall

By - Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett


Arriving at Chastleton House

Hilary Mantel's award winning historical novel Wolf Hall, chronicling the rise of Thomas Cromwell, was mainly filmed on location in South Wales and the South West region of England. This was brilliant because most of the properties belonged to the National Trust, and were ideal places to visit with my groups.  As always, the preparations were shrouded in secrecy because the BBC production team were paranoid about spoilers.  I discussed the film with my group, which they had very much enjoyed, however we were curious as to how the BBC were going to recreate the Tudor period back in King Henry VIII's time. 


The Courtyard

Having discussed the TV production we decided to visit Chastleton House in the Cotswolds just on the borders of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.  As we arrived there was a signpost in the courtyard pointing out a small exhibition to show how the house was rearranged to cater for the filming some of the scenes, which was very helpful.  I hasten to add, Chastleton House was just one of many locations for the film.  Before we even entered the house, we crossed the courtyard where Thomas Cromwell's father had worked as a blacksmith and a brewer.  The exhibition showed us the changes made to the courtyard and the buildings which really took us back to the film. We remembered and discussed the scenes where Thomas Cromwell had flashbacks to his youth where his drunk and brutal father had kicked and beaten him within an inch of his life. 

Cardinal Wolsey's Bedroom

The inside of Chastleton House was used for several very different scenes.  The photograph on the left is how a visitor would see the great parlour today, it has a particularly fine ceiling and a tapestry depicting a musical party in a country house garden.  In the film this became a guest bedroom in the Seymour's house where Thomas Cromwell slept during King Henry VIII's progress.  You have to imagine the room without the dining table and chairs. Imagine a four poster bed with curtain hangings and bedspreads in front of the tapestry, the wall lights disguised and out of shot, and you have the scene.


The dining hall at the Seymour's house

Chastleton House has a medieval screen passage and hall which was in keeping with a Tudor Manor House.  In the 16th and early 17th centuries the hall would have been used for receiving guests and as a place where the household would have gathered.  In the film Wolf Hall this room was converted to the dining hall of the Seymour's house.  King Henry VIII was having dinner with his courtiers and the Seymour family, when he surprised everybody by falling asleep. It was Jane Seymour who got up from the table and went to wake the King.  A small deed but it got her noticed....

The Long Gallery

This long, barrel-vaulted room was where the family would take their exercise on a cold and wet day.  In the film this is where Thomas Cromwell had a long chat with Anne Boleyn as they looked out of the window to watch King Henry VIII accepting the resignation of his Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas More.

Homemade tea and cakes in the churchyard

The story of the family who owned Chastleton House from 1612 - 1991 before handing it over to the care of the National Trust is a fascinating one.  To have seen the film Wolf Hall and to be able to recognise the rooms as you explore the house is very exciting.  I can most certainly recommend a visit.
Refreshments were available in the church next door and, as it was a sunny afternoon, we sat outside amongst the gravestones enjoying cups of tea and homemade cakes.

 

A Prehistoric Landscape in Wiltshire

By: Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett


Looking across Avebury Stone Circle

To be able to travel back in time and see a man-made Neolithic landscape that is over 5,000 years old is pretty incredible. 
The stone circle at Avebury is the largest in the world. It's 14 times larger than Stonehenge, was built about 500 years earlier, it takes up an area of 28 acres and is a mile to walk all the way around.


Information board showing Avebury
would have looked in Neolithic Times

My coach group were full of anticipation about their visit to a prehistoric henge monument.  However before we got to the village, I was able to point out Windmill Hill, where, as far back as 3,500 years BC, the late stone age people had formed a settled community, and had started farming and domesticating animals. This was long before the stone circles were built.  Although nothing remains of their camp above ground, archaeological digs on Windmill Hill had uncovered lots of buried objects such as stone tools and pottery showing that the local people were trading and socialising with different tribes from places as far away as Cornwall and the Lake District.

Admiring the stones

As we drove through Avebury my group were starting to see large unhewn standing stones. It was a glorious day, perfect for a walk and my group were keen to have a look around.  We parked the coach and walked towards the site.  An information board along the route helped with the interpretation of the stone circle.  Originally 170 -180 stones had been dragged from the surrounding area on wooden rollers and placed upright within a very large, deep ditch surrounded by an earth bank.  Over the years many of the stones were taken away, broken up and the fragments could be seen in walls and buildings around the site, but there were enough stones to get an idea of the importance of area and marvel at the construction and man-hours taken to create it all. The reason for building can only be guesswork, but a museum in the stables of Avebury Manor House was well worth a visit and showed that Avebury Stone Circle was just part of a group of prehistoric sites, so the display helped to put the whole area into context.   We enjoyed the museum and stayed for some refreshments, before continuing our journey.
 

A Visit to Warwick Castle

By: Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

The other day I took a group of holidaymakers from New Zealand to visit a top tourist attraction in the Heart of England, the impressive Warwick Castle, one of the best examples of a medieval castle in England.  It provided a wonderful day out for the group who explored the various exhibitions, watched a falconer training his owl, they climbed the castle mound, walked along the walls and saw the gardens. 

Warwick Castle has been home to many generations of the rich and powerful Earls of Warwick who have been key players in English history. 
 
During the Wars of the Roses (1455 – 1485) members of the Houses of York (whose symbol is the White Rose) and Lancaster (whose symbol is the Red Rose) – branches of the Plantagenet Royal family descended from King Edward III, fought a series of battles to gain the throne of England.

Preparations for the Battle of Barnet
At Warwick Castle you can see the preparations for the Battle of Barnet. Richard Neville, the 16^th Earl of Warwick, known as the Kingmaker, was assembling a great army to fight the Yorkist King, Edward IV, who was holding Lancastrian King Henry VI prisoner in the Tower of London.  The Earl wanted to restore Henry to the throne. 

Warwick the Kingmaker was killed during the Battle of Barnet and the Lancastrian army, which he led, were routed. King Edward IV’s army was victorious. Although Edward IV had defeated the Earl of Warwick and his army, he soon heard that Margaret of Anjou, King Henry VI’s wife and her son Edward, Prince of Wales who had been in exile in France, had landed at Weymouth with an army and were on their way to assist the Earl of Warwick finally destroy Edward IV.  Although they arrived too late for the Battle of Barnet, they continued marching north raising supporters as they travelled and were making their way to Wales to meet with a larger army who would fight for their cause.

Edward IV, anticipating their plans intercepted the Lancastrian army at Tewkesbury and after a bloody battle, they were again routed and victory for King Edward IV was finally secured.

The photograph on the left shows the 16th Earl of Warwick preparing to have his armour fitted at Warwick castle on the eve of the battle.  Further in to the exhibition you can see Fortune, the Earl's war horse armoured and robed in Warwick's distinctive colours and motif.  The blacksmith alongside a furnace hammering metal and preparing the horseshoes, the whitesmith burnishing the armour, the cannon, cannon balls, longbows, arrows and other weapons of war being completed.  The whole household were involved in the travel arrangements and battle preparations.  They were expecting a great victory.  Instead the Earl was slain on the battlefield. never to return to the castle.
Warwick castle has many more things to see including the fine state rooms, the exhibition of the great Royal weekend party of 1898 when Edward Prince of Wales was the guest of honour, and many demonstrations in the castle grounds.

 

Caught on Camera - a boat trip on the River Severn with probably the best Showman in the business

By:  Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

I love my job as a Blue Badge Tourist Guide but sometimes, on a tour, one comes across the unexpected, as happened to me in a nice way, the other day.

I was taking a group of holidaymakers on a coach trip around the riverside towns of Worcestershire.  We stopped at Stourport-on-Severn to look at its fascinating history and heritage.

Stourport was a pioneer town of the canal age and very important during the Industrial Revolution. We took a look at the canal basins at the end of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, which links the River Severn with the Trent and Mersey Canal. I explained how and why Stourport became one of the busiest inland port in the Midlands.

The town grew rapidly and by the 1780's there were brass and iron foundries, a vinegar works, tan yards, worsted spinning mills, carpet mills, barge and boat building yards, warehouses, shops, houses and inns. It was incredibly busy. Today, the industry has all but disappeared and Stourport has reinvented itself, catering very well for the leisure industry and holidaymakers.

We strolled alongside the River Severn to see the locks and then into the town. During our walk we met up with Henry Danter who owns Treasure Island, a funfair that is probably one of the oldest funfairs still operating in this country.

After introducing Henry to my group, Henry was keen to welcome everyone and to show us the River Severn by boat. 

Being a glorious morning we thought a boat trip would be fun, so we all boarded his pleasure cruiser moored just under Stourport bridge and Henry took us on a cruise up the river to the end of the navigation before turning around and taking us down river as far as Lincombe Lock then back to his berth at Stourport.  You can see a photo of some of my holidaymakers sitting at the stern of his boat called 'The Skylark,' with a 'Jolly Roger' - a pirates' flag, fluttering in the wind behind them!

Here is Henry giving us a commentary. What we hadn't realised was our arrival coincided with him being filmed for a television programme about English Showmen and their families. So the camera crew joined us on board for the river cruise and we got ourselves in the picture! 

The programme was recorded for television - channel 5 and is due out in November.

Gloucestershire's Royal Connections - King Edward VII

by:  Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

This is a statue of King Edward VII in Montpellier in Cheltenham.  He reigned from 1901 -1910 and is the great, great, great, grandfather of Prince William, who was brought up at Highgrove House, Prince Charles' country house near Tetbury in Gloucestershire. 

When Albert, Edward (known affectionately as Bertie by his family) was Prince of Wales, his wait to become King was a long one.  Towards the end of his life, he famously said, "Everyone has an eternal Father but I'm blest with an eternal Mother."   Queen Victoria died on 22nd January 1901 after 40 years of mourning for her beloved husband Albert.  Bertie chose to be called King Edward rather than Albert, because he said he didn't want to "undervalue the name of Albert" and "diminish the status of his father with whom, among royalty, the name Albert should stand alone."

Here King Edward VII is informally dressed and holding the hand of a ragged child. - The huge disparity between rich and poor at that time, was one of the social evils of the period. 

King Edward was related to the Royal families across Europe and was uncle to Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.  He could see that his nephew might well push Europe into war.  King Edward was a diplomat and used his family contacts to maintain peace.  Through state visits to France he helped pave the way for the signing of the Anglo-French entente Cordiale of 1904.

Sadly in 1914, four years after King Edward's death, war with Germany was declared and so ended the Edwardian era in Britain.

and there's more....

If you would like a guided tour of the Cotswolds contact:   anne@tourandexplore.com

Sightseeing Tours of Gloucestershire and the Cotswolds

A Guided Coach Tour of the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley

Arranged by Blue Badge Guide - Anne Bartlett  

During the morning our tour revealed some of the mysteries and beauty of the Forest of Dean, which lies between the River Severn and the River Wye and then in the afternoon we explored the picturesque and dramatic limestone gorge of the lower Wye Valley.

We took the scenic route into the Forest to enjoy the broadleaved woodlands and conifer plantations carpeted with dense green bracken and grazed by deer, wild boar and sheep. This wooded red sandstone plateau was once very heavily mined and quarried for its rich sources of coal, iron ore and building stone. Today we got interesting glimpses of The Forest of Dean’s past industrial activities. From the comfort of our luxury coach, we enjoyed the tranquil and natural beauty of the landscape and heard stories about Free Miners, Admiral Lord Nelson and even the fictional Harry Potter.

For lunch we stopped in the historic town of Monmouth, which lies alongside the River Monnow.  In the town centre are interesting statues to two of its most famous sons, King Henry V who was born in Monmouth Castle (now a ruin) and Charles Rolls who created the Rolls Royce Car Company with Henry Royce.  There's also a museum with a gallery containing memorabilia of the famous Admiral Lord Nelson which people enjoyed looking around.

After lunch we set off to travel alongside the dramatic and picturesque River Wye.  In the early 19th century this area attracted the first English tourists, including famous writers, poets and artists. We continued this tradition and admired the river valley.  We stopped to view the romantic ruins of Tintern Abbey, which had been much painted and written about by previous visitors.

We drove into Chepstow, known as the gateway town to Wales.  We saw the towering Norman castle, probably the first stone castle to be built in the country perched right on the cliff edge above the mouth of the tidal river Wye.  We stopped for some refreshment and took the time to look around this interesting border town before making our way home.

A Guided Coach Tour of the North Cotswolds      

Arranged by Blue Badge Guide - Anne Bartlett

Our full day tour started from Gloucester and we drove into the Regency town of Cheltenham, famous for its 19th century spas. We  explored the historic town centre with its impressive buildings, beautiful gardens and attractive ironwork. There were stories about its famous sons, composer Gustav Holst and explorer Edward Wilson before travelling north passing Cheltenham Race Course, home of the National Hunt Festival and the Gold Cup. We drove along the western edge of the Cotswold escarpment to enjoy stunning views across to the Malvern Hills. We travelled through the ancient Saxon town of Winchcombe, through some charmingly pretty honey coloured Cotswold stone villages as we made our way to Broadway for coffee. This famous village, was much enjoyed by our visitors, it had lots of stylish cafes and historic coaching inns to enjoy, as well as many individual quality shops to discover. After coffee we travelled further into the Cotswolds to enjoy the beautiful landscape and discover more medieval towns and villages.

We drove through some of the best know places like Chipping Campden and Moreton-in-Marsh.

Our lunch stop was Stow-on-the-Wold, famous for its market square and many antique shops. We enjoyed the town's hospitality, explored the narrow lanes and courtyards, browsed around the interesting shops and even sat on the village green to study the medieval buildings.

After lunch we continued on through some lesser known villages, a little off the beaten track, towards the town of Burford. Here we stopped for afternoon tea before taking a look at Bibury, nestling alongside the River Coln which William Morris described as ‘the most beautiful in England.’
Finally we dragged ourselves away, got on the coach and returned home.

A Guided Coach Tour of the South Cotswolds and the Severn Vale
Arranged by Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

From Cheltenham our full day tour took us via Gloucester to the edge of Coopers Hill where the weirdest of sports takes place. Coopers Hill is the venue for the internationally famous Cheese Rolling Competition. We drove on to Painswick village, known as ‘The Queen of the Cotswolds’ which is famous for its church and 99 yew trees. We took  a coffee stop in Stroud, a friendly town famous for its quality art and craft work and its local produce, before travelling on to explore the variety of Cotswold stone villages that nestle spectacularly in river valleys.

After lunch we drove toward the town of Berkeley where a dramatic sandstone castle, still lived in by the Berkeley family, overlooks the east bank of the River Severn. It was here in the town that Dr Edward Jenner famously inoculated a young boy with cowpox to prevent him from getting the deadly and virulent disease smallpox. We explored some riverside villages and see how people have lived, worked and enjoyed the longest river in Britain which, in the past, has brought trade and prosperity to the area. We made our way to Gloucester which, because of the river, became an important inland port.

A Guided Coach Tour of the East Cotswolds
Arranged by Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

The Cotswolds cover 790 square miles and is the largest area of outstanding natural beauty in Britain, so this week we travelled east from Gloucestershire into the county of Oxfordshire to discover more of this historic and beautiful area and admire more Cotswold towns and villages that have been frozen in time. Stone and wool have shaped this landscape. We saw fine merchants houses built by the wealthy medieval clothiers. There are many interesting scenic routes to take and today we drove past stone relics left by prehistoric man, as we made our way towards the glorious village of Woodstock for a stop.  We visited the museum, also spent time browsing around the shops and lunched in one of the selection of fine coaching inns and quaint little tea shops. Here we found out about Blenheim Palace built as a reward for the Duke of Marlborough for winning a great battle.

We made our way back through The Cotswold Water Park, said to have more lakes than the Norfolk Broads to Lechlade a riverside town on the banks of the River Thames. St Laurence church with its tall spire was where Percy Bysshe Shelley composed his poem ‘Stanzas in a Summer Evening Churchyard.’ We enjoyed an interesting stroll over Halfpenny Bridge and watched the boats on the upper reaches of the navigable river.

We enjoyed our riverside walk and feeling refreshed we made our way back to the coach for our journey home.

To book a Blue Badge Tour Guide contact Anne Bartlett:
 www.tourandexplore.com

Leave your car behind and take a Guided Coach Tour of Gloucestershire's Royal Connections

With:  Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

As this is the year of the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton this full day tour will explore some of Gloucestershire’s royal connections past and present.

We will depart from Cheltenham Race Course, famous for its Gold Cup Festival, beloved by the Queen Mother and visited by Her Majesty, the Queen in 2009. Prince William’s girlfriend Kate Middleton attended the race meetings in 2006, 2007 and 2008 as well as many other royals and famous celebrities, who come to enjoy the excitement and the atmosphere of Gold Cup Week in March. We will travel through Cheltenham, where Zara Phillips and Mike Tyndall have their home. We will admire the fine Regency architecture and hear about the visit of King George III, which really put this Spa town on the map. We will make our way through some interesting Cotswold towns and villages, with royal connections, towards Cirencester, where Princess Anne and Princess Diana and their families have enjoyed shopping from time to time. After a coffee stop in Cirencester, we will travel to the attractive market town of Tetbury, famous for its Woolsack Races. A lunch stop in Tetbury will allow you to visit the Highgrove shop opened by Prince Charles in 2008. Tetbury shops have served the Royal Household for many years and some have gained the prestigious Royal Warrant. After lunch we will travel past Highgrove, the Cotswold home of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall. We will explore some of the lesser known south Cotswold villages, hearing more royal stories, as we weave our way through interesting narrow country roads towards the western edge of the Cotswolds and its spectacular viewpoints. We will then gradually make our way north, passing Berkeley Castle where a king was said to be murdered, and on to Gloucester where he was taken for burial.

We will stop in the city of Gloucester and make our way towards the Cathedral visited by The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in 2003 for the Royal Maundy Service.
They visited Gloucester again in 2009 on a Royal Naval patrol boat to see the newly transformed Docks and then went to enjoy a lunch cooked by students at the nearby college. You will hear many more royal stories and be shown places they visited. There will be an opportunity to find somewhere to enjoy an afternoon cup of tea before returning to Cheltenham.

The Tour will take place on Thursday 21st April.  Cost £20 per person

Leave your car behind and take a Guided Coach Tour of the 'Three Choirs' Country

With:  Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

The Three Choirs Music Festival has been held every year since 18th century and rotates around the Cathedrals of Hereford, Gloucester and Worcester. This year the festival will be held in Worcester.

Our guided coach tour will start from the cathedral city of Gloucester, the venue for last year’s Music Festival. We will pass the market town of Newent and drive on to the picturesque village of Dymock, made famous by a group of poets who met here just before the First World War. They walked and talked and wrote poetry about the countryside between the Malverns and May Hill. Hopefully we will see lots of flowering wild daffodils for which this area is particularly well known.

We will drive across the county border into the cider growing countryside of Herefordshire around the fascinating village of Much Marcle, with its ancient 13th century church and family tombs of the Mortimer family.

The coach will stop to give you time to explore the historic black and white Herefordshire town of Ledbury where the attractive 17th century timber framed market hall dominates the main street. Here you will be able to do some sightseeing, a spot of shopping or enjoy a relaxing cup of coffee in the town that was the birthplace of Poet Laureate John Masefield and childhood home of Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

After your coffee break we will head for the Malvern Hills crossing the border into Worcestershire to discover some of the places that one of our greatest composers, Edward Elgar, knew and loved. We will take the Wyche Cutting to the top, and cross the border into Herefordshire to travel along the western edge of the Malvern Hills, a scenic drive created to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. We will be able to enjoy the Herefordshire countryside and on a clear day will see Hay Bluff and the Black Mountains in Wales.

We will cross the borders again into Worcestershire to see more views across the Severn plains to the distant Cotswold escarpment. We will make our way into the town of Great Malvern where we will stop at The Winter Gardens so you can explore the Priory church, admire the abbey gateway shop or find some lunch.

In the afternoon we will make our way towards the city of Worcester, the venue for the 2011 Music Festival. Here we will make a short stop for sightseeing, where you can take the opportunity to look around the Cathedral or do some shopping before we travel back to Gloucester at the end of the day.

1st Tour will take place on 23rd March 2011.  Cost £20 per person.

Pick up points in Cheltenham town centre and Gloucester city centre

Tour and Explore Bredon Village, Worcestershire

By:  Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett
When you pass the M50 motorway travelling south on the M5 towards the county of Gloucestershire, you pass Bredon Hill on the left, and then see the tall slender spire of Bredon church with the backdrop of the Cotswold escarpment behind.

St Giles Church Bredon

Alongside the church you can just make out the end wall of the medieval tithe barn and then you see the River Avon which flows alongside the village and flows under the motorway towards Tewkesbury where it joins the River Severn. It’s a very picturesque and welcoming sight.

I recommend a wander around this historic village to explore the ancient church, the medieval barn and enjoy the view across the river Avon. For anyone who has read local author, John Moore’s novels, Bredon is in fact, the fictional Brensham Village.

A Norman Porch and doorway

Bredon was well developed by the 8th century and a Saxon Monastery was built, however it was apparently sacked and destroyed by the Vikings who came up the river and raided a number of villages around Bredon Hill. The church, which one sees from the motorway, is over 800 years old having been built by the Normans in the late 12th century, there are also later additions to the church and it has a lot of interesting features, the spire was added in the 14th century.

The beautiful Old Rectory dates back to the 15th century and can be seen behind the brick wall of the graveyard alongside the church. The roof of the Rectory is interesting as there are two mounted stone figures on top, one at each end. One is said to be King Charles II and the other is said to be Oliver Cromwell, two bitter enemies, and local tradition states that if ever the two meet, it will be the end of the world.

In the grounds of Manor Farm is a 14th century medieval barn which is huge, and is in the care of the National Trust. It hit the headlines in 1980 after bales of hay caught fire and the building was almost destroyed, however it has been very well restored and for an empty building it is well worth a look. There are steps up to what is called the Reeve’s Chamber, a room which overlooks the barn where records were kept of the tithes owed by the tenant farmers of the Manor. Interestingly there is a square pit in the corner which drops down to below the ground floor level and it is thought that this is where the defaulters were lowered if they couldn’t pay their dues - Punishment was very harsh in those days. There are slits in the walls of the barn for ventilation and also spaces for birds to come and go. There’s plenty of evidence and noise that it is well used by the local pigeons.

A wander down Dock Lane takes you to the riverside. And there’s a recreation ground with seats and benches where you can enjoy the riverside setting and watch the boats chug up and down this lovely river which started near Naseby in Northamptonshire and has travelled nearly 90 miles passing Warwick Castle, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Evesham and Pershore as it passes Bredon Village on its way to the sea.



For guided group coach tours around Worcestershire and The Malverns