Upper Thames and Ridgeway National Trust Association

 

 

 

If you find yourself in our area you would be most welcome to join us at one of our meetings.

We also have many wonderful NT properties in the vicinity or within an hour’s drive you might like to visit.

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Ashdown House

Don’t miss the view from the top,  the advice from a volunteer guide

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Ashdown House is an unusual Dutch-style house on the Berkshire Downs. An unique 17th-century chalk-block hunting lodge, it was  built for the Queen of Bohemia.  Three different types of deer can be seen in this large wooded estate.

Ashdown House is tenanted and when open, access is limited to hall, staircase (100 steps ) and roof

Lambourn, Berkshire, RG17 8RE

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https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/oxfordshire-buckinghamshire-berkshire/ashdown

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Avebury 

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An ancient stone circle, museum and a manor house with a cafe in the heart of the Avebury World Heritage Site is a must.  It was the subject of the BBC documentary, The Manor Reborn,  which showed an ambitious renovation of nine of the manor’s main rooms to reflect the lives of people who lived in the five hundred year-old manor

 Its special to visit at Christmas time and admire the house which is  beautifully decorated to a Christmas theme.  

 

There is easy access from here to the Ridgeway, a  track used since prehistoric times by travellers, herdsmen and soldiers through this ancient landscape passing Stone Age long barrows, Bronze Age round barrows, Iron Age forts and the figures of white horses cut into the chalk many being safeguarded by the NT. Puzzle over the purpose of nearby Silbury Hill.

Avebury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, SN8 1RD https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk › wiltshire ›

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 Buscot House 

  

Coleshill Park, Badbury Clump, Great Coxwell Tithe Barn and the White Horse on the Ridgeway are all in the vicinity

 

This is a late 18th century house set in extensive ;landscaped grounds in which there is a new water feature, Faux Fall, by David Harber.  The house is home to the Faringdon Collection  which is the result of a century of collecting works of art by the Lords Faringdon. The property has a lake, herbaceous borders, an interesting walled garden and water gardens with  inits wooded grounds.  Tea room

 

It includes paintings by Rembrandt, Botticelli, Reynolds, Rubens and Murillo, and a small but important collection of drawings. British art, especially of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, is particularly well represented in the collection.

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Coleshill Village and Parkland  are very near the Buscot estate

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Sadly the house here burnt down in 1952.   It first came to prominence as the setting as a model farm which was at the cutting edge of agriculture in the mid-1800s when it was built, and  was clustered around a series of courtyards. Now the National Trust has launched the Heritage and Rural Skills Centre  in the old farm buildings.  This on-site community of craftspeople in individual workshops will run alongside a teaching hub that offers courses for professionals, beginners and hobbyists, including lime plastering, stained glass and basket weaving.

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Secrets and Spies

During the Second World War, Coleshill was the top-secret General Headquarters (GHQ) of Churchill's 'secret army' . This was not a regular army, it was one made up of ordinary civilians who had volunteered to serve as Britain’s last line of defence in the event of a Nazi invasion.

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The words of a volunteer

 

 

At Coleshill we have quite a few who look after the WWII history. There are open days on the second Sunday of the month from April till October. We are open from 2.00 till 17.00. Accompanied walks around the replica Operational Base explaining about the Auxiliary Units (Secret Army)as illustrated in the above photgraph. Coleshill are having a 1940s weekend on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th October.  During the winter months we shut the OB down to do maintenance such as checking the wooden floor and treating as necessary. We are hoping to start doing some more investigations in the area to find some other remnants of the war in the woods. We have already found what is believed to be an early version of OB and started to uncover it.

Sat Nav: SN6 7PT on the B4019 between Faringdon and Highworth

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The National Trust run popular family days during the summer and have regular Open Days.  Nice walking in the park and enjoying refreshments at the coffee shop, Well worth attending

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk › visit › buscot-and-coleshill

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Whilst in the area why not check out Badbury Clump, ideal for walking from the carpark, especially beautiful in the bluebell season and admire the Oxfordshire countryside. A small cycle trail . SN7 7NJ

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From here at Badbury Clump a marked track leads down to the Great  Coxwell Tithe Barn SN7 7LZ  

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Heelis

 

   Heelis was built in 2005 as the head office for the the National Trust. Located in the midst of all the railway heritage of Swindon in northern Wiltshire, it was thought , when built, to be one of the greenest office buildings in the country. Occasionally open to the public for open days and tours, it is a fascinating building to visit and a glimpse of just how environmentally friendly, sustainable and efficient workplaces can be.

 

 UTRNTA visit to Heelis April 2024

Heelis is surrounded by Steam, the railway museum of the Great Western railway and  the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Centre  SN2 2NA

 

Lodge Park

Lodge Park is best known for its Grandstand, complete with mile-long course for the 'kingly sporte' of deer coursing where guests were given refreshments whilst watching the “entertainment”. Deer coursing  however went out of fashion in the late 17th century, but the course and deer park survived. Now the only refreshments served are in the coffee shop. There are walks on the Sherborne estate and the NT are working on a project to regenerate the landscape.

 GL54 3DT

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