We have chosen to plant whitebeams as they are a native ornamental tree with an attractive foliage. The leaves are almost white underneath as they are covered in fine white-grey hairs which will look lovely blowing in the breeze. The trees will produce beautiful white blossom in the spring and scarlet red fruit in autumn much loved by birds, squirrels and hedgehogs.

‘Flashing as in gusts, the sudden-lighted white beam’ from ‘Love In the Valley’ by George Meredith (1828-1909).

Morris began publishing poetry and short stories in 1856 and his poem ‘Love is enough’ (published 140 years ago in 1872) is a romantic poem for Valentine’s Day:

Love is enough: though the World be a-waning,
And the woods have no voice but the voice of complaining,
Though the sky be too dark for dim eyes to discover
The gold-cups and daisies fair blooming thereunder,
Though the hills be held shadows, and the sea a dark wonder,
And this day draw a veil over all deeds pass’d over,
Yet their hands shall not tremble, their feet shall not falter;
The void shall not weary, the fear shall not alter
These lips and these eyes of the loved and the lover.

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It is a day to remember Dickens’ connection with the colony of artists in the Cotswold village of Broadway. Broadway resident Fred Barnard illustrated nine Dickens volumes published between 1871 and 1879. These included; David Copperfield, Nicholas Nickleby, Bleak House and A Tale of Two Cities – http://bit.ly/bFdaF3 (2010 blog post: Charles Dickens, Fred Barnard and the Broadway Colony).

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For a list of February walks click here.

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Sir Roy spent 6 years at the National Portrait Gallery followed by several years as Director at the Victoria & Albert Museum before retiring in 1987 to concentrate on his love of the English countryside and gardening. The Laskett Gardens are the result of 35 years of hard work which Sir Roy is bequeathing to the public so that the gardens can continue to give pleasure to many.

This June’s Broadway Arts Festival will focus on art and the garden and Sir Roy will be formally opening the Festival’s art exhibition ‘Country Gardens: John Singer Sargent RA, Alfred Parsons RA and their contemporaries’ on Friday 8th June 2012.  Sir Roy will also be giving a talk on The Laskett Gardens in Broadway’s village hall during the morning of Saturday 9th June.

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The Wychavon Way was originally opened to mark The Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977. The route used to begin in Holt Fleet, Worcestershire, ending in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, but the revised route will now start in Droitwich Spa. Prior to finishing in Broadway the path crosses the corner of our field in West End where it joins The Cotswold Way National Trail just a few hundred metres from the Village Green.

The Wychavon Way passes through the attractive countryside of the Vale of Evesham, Worcestershire’s “heritage garden” through many villages, along streams, through woodland and includes several hills providing lovely panoramic views over the Vale.

You can reduce the footprint of your stay by simply turning off lights and appliances when not in use, fill the kettle with only as much water as you need and by turning off heating when you are not in the room or cottage.

In conjunction with Carbon Footprint, our guests have the opportunity to carbon offset their stay with us by purchasing carbon offsets that support Verified Carbon Standard projects (VCS aims to be the global bench mark standard for project based voluntary emission reductions).

Our guests have the choice of: ‘Pledge a Tree’ in the West Midlands area through a UK Tree Planting Scheme (in conjunction with ‘Tree Appeal’), or reforestation projects in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya.

UK Tree Planting Project

Planting trees is a great way to offset your carbon footprint and become carbon neutral. Through photosynthesis trees absorb carbon dioxide to produce oxygen and wood. By helping to plant a UK tree our guests are helping to:

• offset carbon dioxide emissions
• provide valuable wildlife habitats
• plant native broad-leaved trees
• enhance the natural UK landscape.

Pledge a Tree in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya

The reforestation activities in the Great Rift Valley are being lead by a small community based project team called Escarpment Environment Conservation Network. All trees that are planted are native to the Great Rift Valley and will be carefully planted and managed so as to live their natural lifespan and meet their biodiversity targets. Each tree planted helps:

• disadvantaged communities
• reduce poverty
• create a brighter future for orphans and people living with HIV/AIDS
• provide habitats for wildlife
• offset carbon emissions

If you have any questions or would like further information about carbon offsetting your stay with Broadway Manor Cottages please do not hesitate to contact us. Details of our Cotswold holiday cottages can be found on our website at www.broadwaymanor.co.uk.

We are delighted to announce that Broadway Manor Cottages has recently signed up to the ‘Our Land’ sustainable tourism initiative. The site, www.our-land.co.uk, aims to promote local sustainable tourism businesses such as ours that have a commitment to their local landscapes and communities.

For further information about our environmentally friendly Cotswold holiday cottages in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty visit www.broadwaymanor.co.uk.

Mary Anderson

Arranged by the ‘celebrity’ Amercian stage actress and Broadway resident, Mary Anderson (de Navarro) and fellow American opera singer Murray Davey, the first half included performances of Ede Poldini’s La poupée valsante and Ange Flegier’s Le Cor and pieces by Brahms and Bach performed by a string quartet; Messrs. Désiré Defauw, Lionel Tertis, Emile Dochard and Harold Samuel. Instrumentalists included Lady Sykes and Lady Maud Bowes-Lyon (also a resident of Broadway and Aunt of HRH Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother).

The second half included scenes from Macbeth with Mary Anderson as Lady Macbeth and the American Shakespearean actor Edward Hugh Sothern, who specialised in dashing, romantic leading roles, as Macbeth. They were supported by Miss Hare, Shakespearean actor and director Sir Philip Barling ’Ben’ Greet, Mary’s son Lieut. de Navarro and the English actor Sir John Hare.

During the First World War, Mary Anderson carried out a number of fund-raising performances in London, Stratford-upon-Avon, Worcester and Evesham and this performance of Macbeth in Broadway met with great acclaim.

Broadway was fashionable amongst artists at the time and had been since the late 1880s when the sleepy picturesque Cotswold village had attracted a number of English and American artists, writers, painters, musicians (the ‘Broadway Colony’).  John Singer Sargent, Francis Millet, Edwin Austin Abbey, Alfred Parsons and Henry James (to name a few) gave Broadway its artistic heritage that visitors today continue to enjoy.

Broadway Manor Cottages

The village has a very fine bowling green at the end of Kennel Lane and a flourishing cricket club on the Snowshill Road near St Eadburgha’s Church, where spectators are welcome to watch some entertaining cricket and enjoy a drink whilst taking in one of the most beautiful places to play cricket in the UK.

Broadway Golf Club has a links style 18 hole course uniquely located 850ft above sea level on top of the Cotswold escarpment. Located at Willersey Hill above the village, the course has exceptional views over the Vale of Evesham and provides a challenge for golfers of all abilities and welcomes non-members.

Teams representing Broadway United Football Club play in the Cheltenham League and Ambassador Evesham Football League. The clubhouse on the Milestone Ground is the only venue in the village that offers Sky Sports, showing most live sporting events. The club also has a darts team and runs various social events throughout the year to which all are welcome.

One of the best ways to enjoy the beautiful Cotswolds hills and wolds is on horseback. There are many riding centres in the area which cater for both the experienced rider and beginner. Broadway is home to the North Cotswold Hunt with kennels in the centre of the village along Kennel Lane. The Hunt organises a Point-to-Point, usually held on Easter Monday, at the nearby village of Paxford. The meet provides an excellent day’s entertainment for the whole family with good views of the racecourse, betting facilities, picnic spaces, trade stands, bars, food stalls, hospitality and children’s amusements.

Fishing or angling is one of the most popular pastimes in the Cotswolds especially in the nearby River Avon. The limestone riverbeds provide an ideal environment for traditional fly-fishing for brown trout or the silver-purple grayling and the local lakes are well stocked with chubb, roach, pike and carp.

A holiday in Broadway is a great opportunity to enjoy the surrounding beautiful landscape through walks or by participating in or just watching some of the many sporting activities that take place in the Cotswolds.

For further information about our Cotswold holiday cottages in Broadway visit www.broadwaymanor.co.uk.