Fall Events in the Cotswolds

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Hunt with the Hounds

This is a rare chance to hunt with Cotswold foxhounds, which we can easily arrange for you.

Privilege : English hunting on horseback is still legal, but they no longer chase the fox. If you love riding, and would like to experience the thrill of the chase, we can make this happen for you. Once we have established your riding ability, we can match your ability with a suitable horse, and organize the clothing. You will then meet with a local farmer who will explain the etiquette of English hunting, and take you to ‘the meet’, where after a glass of something strong, you will ride with the hounds. You will discover why people from all walks of life find this the most exhilarating and enjoyable of country pursuits.

If there are members of your party who do not wish to ride, we can take them (in a Land Rover) to follow the hunt. You will meet up in the afternoon, and share the experience in front of a log fire at a local pub.

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The Original Power Breakfast

Dates: April-October

Venue: Chatcombe Shooting School

Details: Traditional country pursuits in the Cotswolds embrace huntin’ shootin’ and fishin’. At Chatcombe, we can arrange for you to have a taste of the shooting side after a tasty breakfast. We’ll collect you from your hotel and drive you to the Chatcombe Estate situated high in the Cotswolds, amid mature, undulating woodland. We will arrange for you to have the appropriate clothing, including wet weather gear if appropriate. In this lovely country setting, enjoy a full English Breakfast before being taught the necessary safety procedures. Then you will be allowed to shoot . The terrain and targets are ideally suited to both Game and Clay Pigeon Shooters whether they are experienced shooters or absolute beginners. Chatcombe Estate combines the essence of the most exciting shooting available. And you may fire at targets which simulate every form of British game bird - Driven Pheasants from ninety feet to over one hundred feet, Crossing Pigeons, Driven Partridges and Snipe.

By prior arrangement you may also receive teaching on fly casting, archery and enjoy gun dog demonstrations. But be warned - at the end of the day, you will have start to feel thoroughly English, and may even begin to enjoy warm beer and start to develop an interest in Cricket! And don’t forget the words of one of England’s finest playwrights – P G Wodehouse: ‘The fascination of shooting as a sport depends almost wholly on whether you are at the right or wrong end of the gun.

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Have fun at the Castle

Dates: April – October, by appointment

Venue: Sudeley Castle, Winchcombe

Details: 1000 years ago you would have been imprisoned for this! Sudeley Castle, once the home of Katherine Parr, sits in beautiful gardens in this most charming part of the Cotswolds. It also owns 1200 acres of neighboring land, including terrain ideal for some off-road adventure. If you spend time during the year looking after your car, and keeping it free of mud, well, now’s the time to let your hair down!

We will provide qualified instructors and hardy vehicles as you navigate the slopes and mud-filled gullies in the shadow of Sudeley. At the end of your drive, allow your adrenalin to subside over a leisurely lunch in nearby Winchcombe, before returning to the Castle for a guided tour of the apartments in the afternoon. (If you left your window open during the drive, we will provide somewhere to shower and change.) This way, you will get adventure and culture in the same day. Can life get much better than this? At the end of the afternoon, you will be handed digital photographs of your 4x4 escapade, although you may not be easily recognized behind a mud-splattered windscreen!

Murder at the Manor

Dates: April – October, by appointment

Venue: The Cotswolds

Details:After a game of tennis, or croquet, maybe, on the lawn, you dress for dinner. The setting is a quintessential Cotswold Manor House, owned by the same family for generations. Over a delicious dinner with the owners in their wood-paneled dining room, something extraordinary happens – one of your fellow diners takes a sip of the ’83 Sancerre, and promptly dies at the table, after a suitably theatrical scream!

This is the setting for our murder mystery play, in which you play a crucial part. Fortunately, there is a detective on hand to examine the clues, and interrogate the guests. With a complex and twisting plot, the truth begins to emerge. And eventually the ‘suspects’ are assembled in the library for the denouement! It will be so convincing, you may even suspect you may have been responsible for the victim’s demise. If you can guess, before hand, the identity of the murderer, you will receive a bottle of Dom Perignon and a TCE gift certificate. And when you finally have to make your way to the bedroom in the manor, we will ensure your room has a strong lock on it!

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Fishing on the Wye

Dates: Late Fall / Winter by arrangement

Details: The River Wye is one of the country’s most scenic rivers. Flowing down the English/Welsh border, it is popular with walkers and anglers alike. Most importantly, it is full of fish!

About 3 miles of single and double bank fishing for coarse fish (it is also a noted trout river) can be enjoyed on a day ticket. It is a delightful and highly productive water giving excellent late autumn and winter fishing for chub, perch, dace and roach. Bulky common carp are found in several of the deeper pools. Barbel and pike often find their way up from the Wye as far as the first weir after high water, though chub are the primary quarry. Whether you prefer to stalk them or simply stick to one swim, there is no reason why a very large haul of chub of an average size of 3-4lbs should not seek your landing net with enthusiasm. Top individual weights here can easily exceed 6lbs or so. You can also fish nearly a mile of the River Wye where large pike and barbel abound with the added bonus of grayling and shad. Coarse fishing is allowed on the River Wye only during the salmon close season - which, of course, just happens to be the best time of year for them.

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Get a taste of Middle Earth

Date – Fall

Venue – Royal Forest of Dean

If there were such a thing as an enchanted wood, this is it! If you are a fan of Lord of the Rings you will not be surprised that JRR Tolkein spent time here and gained inspiration for Middle Earth from this spot. On your first visit, you will find yourself looking over your shoulder for Hobbits!

One mile of pathways that wind through 14 acres of scenic ancient woodland. Originally the site of a Pre-Roman Iron ore mine, the maze of paths were laid nearly 200 years ago for the amusement of the owners' family. Wander through deep ravines and over wooden bridges, through moss covered rocks and between ancient trees. The paths were laid to form a very unusual maze. Take a gentle walk through the woods, to be transported back to an English landscape, essentially unchanged in thousands of years.

Test your sense of direction to the limits in our indoor wooden maze; secret doors, hidden passageways and dead ends. Meet the farm animals; then have a snack in our tea room while the chilldren enjoy the Children's Adventure trail. Please note: The wood is not suitable for pushchairs or the less physically able due to the many uneven steps within.

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Experience British Rugby Up Close and Personal

Dates: October – April on match days.

Details: The saying goes that Soccer is a game for gentlemen played by louts and Rugby a game for louts played by gentlemen. However true this is, Rugby is a bruising and exciting contest between thirty men who each bear a passing resemblance to a small mountain. It’s spectacle and enormous fun. Gloucester is one of the spiritual homes of Rugby Union in the UK, and its team regularly finish among the top three in the national league. We will take for you for a pint of Bitter before the game (an essential pre-requisite of any game), and explain the rules of the sport, it’s spirit and also why no-one ever seems to get killed during it’s 80 minutes!

Then we will escort you to the centre of ‘the Shed’ where the local supporters watch from. That is the best way to catch the good-natured ‘craic’ as the Irish describe it, and enjoy the many chants. You will also learn to pronounce the City as the locals do – loosely ‘Glarcester.!) It’ll be fun, entertaining and exhausting, but be warned – you may well lose your voice before the end!

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Join the Great British Pudding Club

Dates: Fall 08

Venue: Three Ways Hotel, Beckford

As you enter the fall, and nights begin to get shorter, everyone’s mind turns to puddings. No? Well yours will when you have visited here. From humble beginnings to its present status as a national institution, the Pudding Club is an un-missable experience for everyone with a sweet tooth, and a delight in eccentricity. You can also stay over in the hotel and we will take you for a delightful day tour of the Cotswolds in between chocolate.

The Pudding Club was founded at Three Ways House Hotel in 1985 to prevent the demise of the traditional great British Pudding. In the 1980’s it seemed as though such delights as Jam Roly Poly, Syrup Sponge, Sticky Toffee Pudding and Spotted Dick were rarities in the face of seductive competition from Black Forest Gateau and Frozen Strawberry Cheesecake.

The Pudding Club and its members can now proudly claim that because of their efforts the great British Pudding has reclaimed an enthusiastic following throughout the country – and beyond. Over the years meetings of the Club have been featured on the BBC’s Food and Drink and Holiday programmes as well as numerous other TV, radio and press articles.

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Events on specific dates:

Come Clypping with the Village

Date: September 21st

Venue: Painswick

Come and join local people take part in an ancient and slightly eccentric ceremony at this beautiful church. Clypping takes place in Painswick, a town built on prosperity from the wool trade, and host now to some charming antique and bric-a-brac shops, and its famous Rococo Gardens. You can happily lose a couple of hours walking around its windy streets. So, whats clypping?............

Held on Feast Sunday after the Feast Nativity of St Mary which should be on 21 September The church is 'clypped' or embraced by parishioners while singing the 'Clypping Hymn' . It symbolises the parishioners love of their church. However Feast day was also once notorious as a day of riotous behaviour and for 'Puppy dog pies' said to have been baked by a local publican desperate for meat to feed the visiting crowds.
This is celebrated even today, but don’t worry – only china dogs are baked into pies and cakes which are sold on the day!

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Transport Nostalgia Day

Date: September 21st

Venue: Toddington

A fun family day out for enthusiasts and nostalgia experts everywhere. This lovingly preserved station is host to an eclectic mix of old buses, cars and commercial vehicles. You know if you are ageing when some of this collection does not look that old!

Finish the day off with a trip on a restored steam train. The line runs 12 miles through the Cotswold landscape, stopping along the way, and will give you both a lovely glimpse of the countryside in the fall, and an insight into an age gone by. At the end of the day we will book a nearby Inn for you to enjoy completely up-to-date cuisine! Delicious too.

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Cakes and Jewels - Fun for the Girls!

Date: September 26th

Time: 10.00 – 13.00

Venue: Wicklesham

This is the perfect mixture of creativity and chocolate. Great family fun, but a man-free zone. We will find something for the men to do for the morning, while you enjoy the fun! Can you think of a better way to end the week? Join other creative types for a morning of sparkly crystals and beads, sumptuous cakes and glittering conversation. This workshop will introduce you to the basic techniques of making your own beaded jewellery. You will create a necklace, bracelet and earrings to take home with you. £35 per person.

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Come Mushroom Hunting

Date: October 11th

Venue: Royal Forest of Dean

Join us as we search for the many delicious edible mushrooms in the Royal Forest of Dean, and … eat them!

The Royal Forest is adjacent to the Cotswolds, and one of England’s best secrets. In the Fall, its natural beauty turns to a fiery cascade of oranges, reds and russets. Almost hidden beneath the carpet of leaves are the most delicious mushrooms you could wish for. But which ones are edible, and which will send you home early?! We will supply a local expert who will lead us as we forage for these funghi. But that isn’t enough. In the land of the English breakfast, we will cook them fresh for you, along with all the other ingredients of the ‘Full English’: local organic herb sausages, smoked bacon, black pudding, grilled Cotswold tomatoes, local free range eggs…. We could go on.. Suffice to say, lose your calorie counter for the day, and enjoy the delicious food, some of which you have ‘caught’.

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The Times Cheltenham Literary Festival

Date: October 10th - October 19th

Venue: Cheltenham

Join the literati as Cheltenham hosts one of the flagship events in the British literary calendar. Over 400 writers come to this elegant Regency town to talk of their craft. Whether your interest is crime-writing, travel, autobiographies or children’s fiction you will find some one of interest, and many of international renown to listen to.

TCE will send you a copy of the speakers, venues and dates once you make your enquiry. Let us know, as soon as you can, who you would like to hear. We will book your seats, and organise accommodation for you so you are only a short walk or cab ride from your venues. Cheltenham is packed with restaurants offering international cuisine, or you can enjoy the ambience of the British Pub or Wine Bar experience as you discuss the stimulating intellectual fare you have just experienced.

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Theatre in the Deep

Date – October10th and 11th

Venue – Clearwell Caves

Enjoy theatre with a difference – 100 feet underground. Forget Broadway, forget the West End. Come and enjoy your pre-show meal at one of our favourite Forest restaurants, and then we will drive you to the cave entrance for the show.

A galleon from the dreaded Spanish Armada wrecked up the River Severn and its sole survivor is the infant heir to the Spanish throne. Adopted by Forest born local lad Jack, as a playmate for his own child, the two babies become embroiled in plot and hilarious counterplot, as it seems the whole world tries to invade the Forest to kidnap the children. Old Spot seeks to celebrate what is best about Gloucestershire, creating a high quality physical and humorous style of theatre that will leave you chuckling long after the event. This is theatre from the Merrie England that never was, but wish it had been! Suitable for children and adults from 8 years up.

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Steam and Vintage Fair

Date: 11th/12th October

Venue: Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway

Details: For all those who think nostalgia isn’t what it used to be, this is where to come!
This event was restarted after a four-year absence last year and most enjoyable it was too There’s something special about seeing traction engines doing what they were designed to do (such as ploughing, sawing, driving fairground equipment); commercial vehicles, cars, coaches, trucks, fire engines, tractors as so much more – as well as craft and trade stands, a model tent. Well, it has all the trappings of a fantastic day out! This year the event takes place at Cheltenham Race Course and on adjoining fields. The railway, of course, will be joining in the fun with an all-steam train service. This is a great family day out or a day for the enthusiast to get their hands dirty talking to others with the same passion for ‘real’ powered vehicles.

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Start of the Racing Season

Date: October 17th/18th

Venue: Cheltenham Racecourse

Join us for the ‘Showcase’ weekend at Cheltenham Racecourse to mark the beginning of the National Hunt Festival, at its home venue. This is a wonderful spot to see it from, as the elegant racecourse buildings lie in a natural bowl formed by the Cotswold Hills.

A great start to the new season at Cheltenham with a valuable two day meeting, held for the very first time on a Friday and Saturday. Join us to enjoy two days of wonderful action, along with the excitement and anticipation that greets every new season here. With the fixture moving to a weekend, and prize money being significantly boosted, the racing is sure to be extremely competitive, with all of the leading jockeys and trainers targeting The Showcase with some of their best early season horses.

This year, there will also be the opportunity to look behind the scenes at many aspects of racing, with a special exhibition in Hurdlers Hall, near the parade ring. With features on ownership, sponsorship and horsemanship plus insights aimed at increasing your knowledge and enjoyment of the sport, it should offer something of interest for everyone. It will also give us a chance to celebrate the highlights of the season just gone and look forward to 2007/08 and beyond - both at Cheltenham and within Jump racing as a whole.

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Arrive in Style for the Fireworks

Date: 1st November

Venue: Cheltenham Racecourse

Every year, in November, the British enjoy an unusual but endearing celebration of an event when the Houses of Parliament was almost blown up several hundred years ago. We invite you to join us for fun family evening as we mark the occasion of Bonfire Night. The spectacular fireworks display over Cheltenham Race course in the lee of the Cotswold Hills has drawn thousands of visitors over the years, and is accompanied by a funfair with sideshows, and lots to entertain children.

At TCE we like to something extra for you, and so we will arrange that you to arrive in a carriage pulled by a steam train, along the 12 mile stretch of track restored by the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire railway. You will pull up at the racecourse station, used many times by the Royal Family to access the racecourse, straight into the heart of the fun. For the children lies an evening ahead of fun and spectacle.

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Race with the Fastest

Dates: November 15th

Venue: Prestbury Park Racecourse

This day forms a part of the 3 day race festival that is the most prestigious race meeting in the country after the March ‘Gold Cup’. This day is the family day, and this exquisite course hosts falconry displays, and many side shows and trade stands; as well as some thrilling races. Friday is the hugely popular Countryside Raceday, with a traditional country fair atmosphere pervading the racecourse. Falconry displays, hound parades and up to 80 trade stands mean that there is something on offer for all tastes. Add in the thrills of top class racing, the season's first Cross Country Steeplechase over our unique course combining hedges, banks and timber rails and you have a wonderful sporting day out which is normally enjoyed by in excess of 20,000 people. We can organise special club passes for you, and lunch with a jockey, or trainer who can give you some good background on the horses involved, and what to look for. This is a great family day out, and we will add those special touches to make it extra memorable!

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A taste of Christmas at the Palace

Date: November 15th – December 1

Venue: Blenheim Palace

Let us give you a day out in Oxford with a difference. We will spend the morning touring some of the finest stores and boutiques in Oxford. They will look at their seasonal best and will be packed with gifts to delight your friends and family back home. Then, after lunch, we will take you to Blenheim Palace, a jewel in Oxford’s crown. Blenheim Palace is decorated for Christmas with a Victorian theme. Estate-grown Christmas trees sparkle in the Great Court and elegant decorations adorn the State Rooms. We challenge you to see this grand building, and leave without feeling full of that festive spirit!

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Family Fun at Chastleton House

Dates: November 26th-29th

Venue: Chastleton House, Oxfordshire

Details: Chastleton House is filled not only with a mixture of rare and everyday objects, furniture and textiles collected since its completion in 1612, but also with the atmosphere of 400 years of continuous occupation by one family. The gardens have a typical Elizabethan and Jacobean layout, with a ring of fascinating topiary at their heart, and it was here in 1865 that the rules of modern croquet were codified. Since acquiring the property, the Trust has concentrated on conserving it rather than restoring it to a pristine state.

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