Marching into history - 1 March 2009

The excellent BBC weather forecast promised that the day would clear, so we bravely set off in low cloud for The Vale of the White Horse and beyond.

We explored two ‘film set’ villages – Fairford and Lechlade on Thames.

St Mary’s in Fairford is famous as the only parish church in the country still retaining a complete set of 28 medieval stained glass windows.

They are amazing, and have been carefully preserved by whitewashing to protect them during the Reformation and by removing them altogether during the Civil and Second World Wars. Just outside the town are the Ox pens and a charming mill house. We stopped in the picturesque pub for morning coffee.

Lechlade although slightly bigger, is just as scenic, and because of the Thames running alongside the town was once a prominent inland port.

Driving back through the Vale of the White Horse, we arrived at Kingston Bagpuize.

Although a stately home is it is smaller than most we have visited and feels intimate and very liveable. The garden was full of snowdrops, by far the best display we have seen this year.