Books > Sport & Leisure > Travel & holiday > Travel & holiday guides
|
Buy Now
The Palladian Way - A Classical Walk Past the Greatest Estates of "Middle" England (Paperback)
Loot Price: R349
Discovery Miles 3 490
|
|
The Palladian Way - A Classical Walk Past the Greatest Estates of "Middle" England (Paperback)
Series: Walkabout
(sign in to rate)
Loot Price R349
Discovery Miles 3 490
Expected to ship within 9 - 15 working days
|
Donate to Against Period Poverty
Total price: R369
Discovery Miles: 3 690
|
The Palladian Way is the brainchild of Cotswold walker Guy Vowles.
It was born out of a previous idea for a long distance walk between
Oxford and Bath but was extended northwards to Buckingham where the
author was educated nearby. The realization that there was a
Palladian bridge at Prior Park outside Bath to match the one at
Stowe suggested a suitable title and the discovery of many
classical houses and large estates along the route has helped to
make the trail more than just another long walk. The majority of
this 200km (125m) trail passes through beautiful countryside and
many interesting villages with a wealth of historical background so
that walkers can discover parts of England they would not normally
visit. THE MAKING OF A LONG DISTANCE TRAIL The inspiration for a
new long distance walk can come from many sources. In my case it
was a loan of a book. "The Wayfarers Journal" is an elaborate
production describing a number of routes which a small, rather
quirky group of men who called themselves the "Viators" (Latin for
"the travellers") started walking in the 1950s. They researched
their routes and kept records. Some 30 years later a chance meeting
with a journalist one lunch time at a pub close to Hadrian's Wall,
led eventually to publication. Many of their walks or "iters" had
Roman connections and ITER XXXVI particularly interested me. The
cover pages contain a map of a route "South Cotswolds-Bath to
Oxford 108 miles" but unfortunately there is no descriptive text.
The book is out of print but I managed to acquire a copy and
transposed the route on to modern OS maps. One January I set off to
walk the first three days from Oxford. Their route was quite
convoluted and I soon decided that I could plan something more
interesting. I started the first walk over with a good friend with
whom I had walked the length of Scotland and England a few years
previously. We left Oxford via the tow path of the Oxford canal
which we found to be rather unattractive with some of the
houseboats described by my friend as "sinking assetsA". He also
enquired about the length of the intended new route which now fell
short of the magic 100 mile mark. By coincidence, about the same
time, I was talking to another friend about my old school, Stowe,
and he commented that his own old school, Prior Park, also had a
Palladian bridge in the grounds. This was an eye opener to me and
set me thinking. Stowe is north of Oxford and a route via Woodstock
and Blenheim would not only avoid the difficulties around Oxford
but would also take the distance down to Prior Park and Bath to
over the 100 mile distance.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
|
|
Email address subscribed successfully.
A activation email has been sent to you.
Please click the link in that email to activate your subscription.