I have now lived in the little stone cottage set in the heart of the secret valley for twenty-six years, far longer than any other house during my lifetime.  Its isolation became my refuge when, with my then new partner’s support, I rebuilt my life after a period of huge emotional difficulty. It was here where I made new friends, found new interests, developed my horticultural career and surrounded myself with animals.  Soon the two of us will be moving house and leaving the valley forever.  More of this later, today it seems appropriate to take a wander around the valley and re-visit some of those happy memories.

The cottage as regular readers of this blog will know is set in small, deep and well-hidden valley.  It is surrounded by fields and by the river which wraps itself around two sides of the house.  It is a river of extremes, in places deep and slow, in others clear and fast running.  At times its banks are quite straight, whereas along other stretches it is full of bends and meanders, as shown in my blog header.  At present, especially because of the prolonged drought, the water levels are low, no doubt before long it will have filled and spilled over to flood the fields and lane.  Our house sits high enough never to be threatened by flood, in fact, I rather like it like that for it brings the water birds so much closer.

When I first came here, the farm of which the cottage is part, concentrated on sheep, my favourite of all farm animals.  They were a happy link to past times spent on Exmoor working on a friend’s farm – it was Exmoor where I learnt to lamb, to shear and to embrace remote living. Now, the sheep have gone and beef cattle have taken their place.  It is equally lovely to see them grazing just feet away from the windows and their curiosity and friendship are endearing.  Calving takes place twice a year – how glad I am that I never learnt how to help with that!

Living where we do it was very easy to collect animals, and horses, chickens, guinea fowl and quail, cats, as well as several dogs, all became part of the daily routine.  I had always ridden horses since my teens but I had never been a confident rider.  That all changed when my partner who is a superb rider and has won numerous competitions, arranged for me to have my own horse and lessons from one of the best teachers in the area.  Jo was a strict taskmaster and before long I was able to charge about feeling quite secure on Barney, a gentle giant of horse, an Irish Draught.  He was followed by several others including Tux, a retired racehorse straight off the track.  He and I would have constant disagreements about what speed we intended to travel but, I’m glad to say, no bones were broken in the process of learning how to control him.  The dogs deserve a blog post of their own which no doubt they will get before too long.

Because it is so quiet here in the valley, wildlife abounds with fox, badger, deer and the occasional otter, as well as some wonderful birdlife.  As dusk draws in it is not uncommon to see a fox amble across the meadow and I have learnt where to quietly sit if I want to see them with their cubs.  When I was much younger I would also lie on the ground in near total darkness waiting for the badgers to venture out of their setts; these days I am more than happy to just have a fleeting glimpse of a badger without all that discomfort.  It is only with the greatest luck that you’ll come across an otter which has happened to me twice.  They are wonderful creatures, how privileged I was for a family of them to sit by the river bank and allow me to photograph them.   Hare are so common here, that I almost forget just how lucky I am to see them nearly every day.

There is so much to mention about the valley – the wild flowers, the dry stone walls or the houses, for example – that my writing of it will not cease with the move.  Likewise, I don’t have any plans to change the header of the winding river even though it will be an hour away.  And of course I shall still be living on the very edge of the Cotswolds with lots of new places and adventures to share.  And then there’s the history, the new place has a fascinating story of its own and the hills there have a very different character to those here in the valley.  All the new will have to wait for it is still a month or two before we finally arrive.  So, where is this new life going to be taking place?  All will be revealed in due course.  In the meantime, here is a little teaser: this wonderful fountain which wouldn’t look out of place in Rome is just a four-minute walk from our door.  I hope you will all continue to join me as I continue my Life in the English Cotswolds.