The urban guide to the countryside -
Outdoors
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Summer hols saviours!
Desperately seeking summer holiday activities for your little darlings? The good news is there's loads going on and you're not too late. Sporty, arty or just plain feral, we've got something to suit all tastes.
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Step into my office…
We've adjourned to the outdoor meeting room here at Muddy HQ now the sun is shining. Here's our top garden furniture picks to snazz up your summer.
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Gardener’s paradise
It feels a bit strange writing about a trip outdoors on a day as miserable as this, but the weather is supposed to perk up over the next few days, so my optimism may yet prevail. I visited Rousham Gardens over the summer with my mum (below, demonstrating the biggest tree trunk I’ve ever seen), […]
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Wouldn’t you though?
If you have grand designs for your garden this year, check out the striking work of award-winning Oxfordshire sculptor David Harber. I've got my eye on this bronze beauty - isn't she pretty?
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See this: Christmas at Blenheim
I think it’s fair to say that when Blenheim Palace decides to do something, it does it with bells, whistles, fanfares and a whole lot of style. This is the first year that the estate has created an illuminated walkway, picking up on a trend that’s been happening for some time at the likes of […]
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Let’s PARTY!!! Cornwell Manor opens for guests
Whoo-hoo! I’m so excited to tell you about this because I know Cornwell Manor – I had a sneaky peaky around it last year (friend of a friend stuff) – and I’m not kidding, it’s one of the loveliest manor houses in the Cotswolds. It’s a total stonker. Cornwell Manor is close to Chipping Norton […]
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Watlington: small but perfectly formed
I haven’t had a Muddy day out in one town for a while – the last one was Chipping Norton last summer – but they’re good fun to do and always surprising too, because what you see from the car window on the main road never tells the story. That’s definitely the case for Watlington, […]
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Muddy visits… Chastleton House (Nat. Trust)
I visited Chastleton House when I was staying at Bruern Cottages in the Cotswolds a few months back (yes, the 5 star cottage holiday thats up for grabs on Muddy, have you entered yet?!!). Chastleton House is only a few miles from Chipping Norton so very much on the Oxfordshire side of the Cotswolds, […]
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A drop of art
I was up at Waddesdon Manor a few weeks ago and totally forgot to tell you about this fantastic installation in the garden aviary (above). It’s been there for a while, and is called Bit.fall, by German artist Julius Popp, just the latest in a long line of brilliant interactive collaborations between the Rothschild estate […]
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TRY THIS: Blenheim Horse Trials, Woodstock
Let it be said right from the off that I’m not particularly horsey – in fact the one time I did ‘ride’ a horse it refused point blank to move – but I went to Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials on Thursday anyway, to see if it would appeal past the zealots to equine luddites […]
