Summer visit to Worcester
It was a fine day for the Oxford Centre’s visit to Worcester on 18 June. Our time was divided between National Trust properties Greyfriars House and Garden and The Commandery with informative guided tours at both. Greyfriars is a medieval timbered merchant’s house, which was saved from demolition in the 1930s and lovingly restored, often with recycled materials, by siblings Elsie and Matley Moore, and handed to the Trust in 1966. The Commandery is most famous for being the Royalist Headquarters during the deciding battle of the English Civil War – the Battle of Worcester 1651 – and includes much memorabilia from this period. Built on the site of an early medieval chapel, The Commandery has also been a monastic hospital, family home, school for the blind, and the location of the Littlebury Printworks, before becoming today’s museum revealing significant stories of the city’s history. A very interesting day enjoyed by all!
The Last Walks?
The last two walks of the season were very different! Our visit to Nuffield Place in May was on a very wet day, with only four of us present. We were due to walk through the woods and along part of the Ridgeway path near Nuffield village, after a briefing about the history of Lady Nuffield’s restored garden. However, the House Manager, Steven, took pity on us and invited us to an indoor tour of the House in the dry, which we enjoyed very much. It was still raining when we had our very interesting guided garden tour with volunteer Gill from under umbrellas! We abandoned any idea of walking beyond the café across the road.
Our June walk was on White Horse Hill near Uffington, when we were much luckier with the weather, as after early rain it cleared and we had sunshine for exploring up the hill with National Trust Ranger Andy who told us fascinating facts about the history, geology, flora and fauna. We were able to go close to the white chalk lines of the horse on the hillside, finding out how they would be cleaned and rechalked at the end of June. At the highest point of Uffington Castle we could see 360 degrees to the horizon in seven counties!
Unfortunately, these were the last walks for our Walking Group, as we regret that Jonathan Anelay has stepped back as the Organiser and Leader after three years of very interesting and enjoyable walks at or near National Trust properties around Oxfordshire. Members of the Walking Group are very grateful to Jonathan for his detailed planning and expert leadership of the walks. We are looking for a new Leader/Organiser for our walks!