Bucks &amp; Oxon


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-art-masters">Art masters</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="666" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092931.026.jpg" alt="Waddesden art collection by Bolognese painter Guercino" class="wp-image-157583" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092931.026.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092931.026-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092931.026-400x266.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>Waddesdon Manor clearly has huge art credentials, from its vast Old Masters collections to its championing of the contemporary (hello Joana Vasconcelos&#8217;s bonkers and beautiful giant ceramic wedding cake). This month there&#8217;s a new treat in store &#8211; the coming together of <a href="https://waddesdon.org.uk/whats-on/guercino/">five paintings by Bolognese painter Guercino</a> which haven&#8217;t been together since they left the artist&#8217;s studio 350 years ago. With one on loan from the National Gallery and one from the Royal Collection, it&#8217;s a once-only opportunity right on your doorstep. On display <strong>from 20 March</strong>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-secret-garden">The secret garden</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="666" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092955.472.jpg" alt="Exeter College Oxford" class="wp-image-157582" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092955.472.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092955.472-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092955.472-400x266.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>Leave Christ Church to the crowds and Harry Potter fans and head for <a href="https://www.exeter.ox.ac.uk/contact-us/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Exeter College</a>, one of the oldest of the 39 and way less visited. Its gorgeous Fellow’s Garden, a secret walled garden that&#8217;s overlooked by the Radcliffe Camera and the Divinity Schools (plus its the infamous spot where <em>Inspector Morse</em> took his last breath), is home to the library (they still have a record of the books taken out by alumni JRR Tolkein over 100 years ago. It&#8217;s open 2-5pm most days for a £3 entrance fee. See also Oxford&#8217;s gorgeous <a href="https://www.obga.ox.ac.uk/visit-garden" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Botanical Gardens</a> where you can shelter in the glasshouses if the weather&#8217;s turned grim.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hit-the-flicks">Hit the flicks</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="666" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T093936.602.jpg" alt="EVERYMAN CINEMA MARLOW BUCKS" class="wp-image-157591" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T093936.602.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T093936.602-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T093936.602-400x266.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>Want to catch up on the Oscar winners and escape the real world (and drizzle). Get yourself down to one of our counties&#8217; <a href="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/things-to-do/independent-cinemas-buckinghamshire-oxfordshire/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">gorgeous indie cinemas</a> to do it in style. There&#8217;s the newly opened <a href="https://www.everymancinema.com/venues-list/g01rl-everyman-marlow/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Everyman Marlow</a> showing the hilarious <em>Wicked Little Letters</em> with Olivia Coleman, or for something a little less sweary (and steamy if you&#8217;re that kind of <em>Fleabag</em> fan), see Andrew Scott tackle Chekov&#8217;s <em>Uncle Vanya</em> in the National Theatre Live screening later this week, plus there&#8217;s the Barbenheimer reshows if you want to see what all the fuss is about. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-steam-power">Steam power</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="666" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T093030.852.jpg" alt="outdoor hot tub by lake at Alfresco Spa" class="wp-image-157581" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T093030.852.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T093030.852-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T093030.852-400x266.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>The <a href="https://www.thealfrescospa.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Alfresco Spa</a> is everything you want from a relaxation day if the whole white robes and whale music thang doesn&#8217;t float your boat. The new lakeside location on Blackpit Farm near MK offers woodfired hot tubs, sauna,&nbsp;cold plunge and open water swimming if you want to go full re-born, plus there&#8217;s lunch and a towel thrown in for the four-hour session. Open Sat &amp; Sun 9am-6pm.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-take-a-view">Take a view</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/10/Untitled-design-2022-10-03T110802.857.jpg" alt="COOMBE HILL NEAR CHEQUERS"/></figure>



<p>Don&#8217;t just blow the cobwebs away &#8211; blast them into the ether with one of our counties&#8217; bracing hilltop walks. Burn off some excess energy then drink in the views at spots like <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/oxfordshire-buckinghamshire-berkshire/chilterns-countryside/coombe-hill-and-chequers-trail" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Coombe Hill</a> near Chequers (oh hello Rishi), <a href="https://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/en_GB/short-routes/white-horse-hill-circular-walk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">White Horse Hill</a> with its iconic Bronze-Age stead at Uffington or Ivinghoe Beacon on the Bucks/Beds/Herts border, which is part of the National Trust’s Ashridge estate and is reachable from the Bridgewater Monument in a <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/essex-bedfordshire-hertfordshire/ashridge-estate" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">7.2km loop</a>. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-art-of-it">The art of it</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092633.230.jpg" alt="Modern Art Oxford" class="wp-image-157579" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092633.230.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092633.230-800x800.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092633.230-400x400.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092633.230-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>Hit pause and refresh with a trip to <a href="https://www.modernartoxford.org.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Modern Art Oxford</a>, a striking industrial space, once a brewery. It&#8217;s currently prepping for its latest show, &#8216;A future in the light of darkness&#8217;, opening 16 March &#8211; talk about prescient. We&#8217;re such a fan of the space, it&#8217;s where the Muddy team decamped for our annual away day to create, collaborate and catch up in the inspiring surrounds. Go do the same. Rain stopped your outdoor fun? See also unexpected gems like the <a href="https://www.banburymuseum.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Banbury Museum</a>, <a href="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/little-black-book/directory/mk-gallery-milton-keynes/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MK Gallery</a> and the indoor and outdoor works at the gorgeous and serene <a href="https://d24hfjv1ew3jdw.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/14102050/works-of-art-Feb-2018.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Windmill Hill</a> in Waddesdon.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-eyes-up">Eyes up</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092846.481.jpg" alt="Stowe State Dining Room" class="wp-image-157578" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092846.481.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092846.481-800x800.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092846.481-400x400.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092846.481-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>You can completely lose yourself in the grandeur of Stowe&#8217;s recently unveiled <a href="https://www.stowe.co.uk/house/history/history-of-stowe-house-preservation-trust/restoring-the-state-dining-room" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">State Dining Room</a> following its epic and painstaking restoration (cue artists painting gold leaf with single haired brushes) &#8211; part of the property&#8217;s whopping £26m investment in bringing it back to the splendour of its heyday. Stare up at the ceiling that tells tales of Venus and mythical animals in (now) vibrant gold, or get a close up of the intricacies of the tapestry replicas recreated on a vast scale on the walls. Makes you (and your worries) feel small &#8211; for a while anyway.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-flower-fairies">Flower fairies</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T093814.270.jpg" alt="Chippy Flower Farm woman holding bouquet" class="wp-image-157586" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T093814.270.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T093814.270-800x800.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T093814.270-400x400.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T093814.270-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>Chippy Flower Farm opens up for the season on 21 March and you can pop along for a bucket of freshly cut seasonal blooms and drink in the rustic gorgeousness of it all. Open Thu – Sun, amble up to the pretty barn and choose your bunch then take them home to arrange and pretend this kind of whimsy is just an average Thursday. Based in Bucks? Keep your eyes peeled for the opening of <a href="https://www.chilternskyflowers.com/seasonalcutflowers" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chiltern Sky Flowers</a> in Bledlow Ridge or in south Oxon there&#8217;s Wallingford&#8217;s <a href="https://www.greenandgorgeousflowers.co.uk/farm-gate/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Green &amp; Gorgeous</a> flower farm – both get the ball rolling in early April with tulips and other spring blooms at the farm gate.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rustic-lunching">Rustic lunching</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="833" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092436.624-833x1000.jpg" alt="Worton Kitchen Garden OUTDOOR SEATING" class="wp-image-157576" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092436.624-833x1000.jpg 833w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092436.624-667x800.jpg 667w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092436.624-333x400.jpg 333w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/Untitled-design-2024-03-12T092436.624.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 833px) 100vw, 833px" /></figure>



<p>When you eat at <a href="https://wortonkitchengarden.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Worton Kitchen Garden</a>, you&#8217;re sitting among the veg plots that your lunch was dug from literally hours earlier. The bucolic café and farm shop just north-west of Oxford is the ultimate spot to escape the real world. You can cosy up by the log burner or bask in the spring sunshine if the weather&#8217;s being kind and enjoy daily specials like Cornish mackerel with rhubarb relish or Seville orange tart. Open Wed – Sun.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-let-s-go">Let&#8217;s go</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1001" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/03/kids-flying-kites-scaled-e1710241438944.jpg" alt="kids flying kites in countryside" class="wp-image-157621"/></figure>



<p>Fly a kite! It&#8217;s meditation for the twitchy, plus you get fresh air and wholesome fun vibes to boot. Go untangle that kite from the strimmer at the back of the garage and take it to one of our fab local flying spots on a breezy day. Given there&#8217;s a windmill up there, we reckon <a href="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/best-places-to-live/turville-buckinghamshire/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Turville</a> is a peachy spot, or try <a href="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/best-places-to-live/watlington/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Watlington Hill</a> or the <a href="https://www.faringdonfolly.org.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">folly at Faringdon</a>.</p>


Spring cheer incoming! 10 local places to find beauty, joy and solace

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