Tracy Spiers takes us for a march around Moreton-in-Marsh to take in its hospitality, inspiration and natural beauty
Now and then I struggle with my words because they cannot convey what I have experienced or seen. I can show you what I saw with the photographs I took, I can conjure up a picture with the adjectives and sentences I use, but what I cannot do is provide you with the smells, the sounds and what it feels to be in a place. That you will have to do for yourselves. For now, I encourage you to use your imagination and join me as I take a March through Moreton-in-Marsh complete with all its wonderful distractions along the way.
There are three factors which I believe run through the historic veins of this Gloucestershire town. They are hospitality, inspiration and natural beauty. Look back in time and these are true for every century. It has been a faithful servant to the weary traveller, providing a much-needed bed for the night in its plethora of inns and hotels as well as filling empty stomachs with good nourishment. It has inspired many an artist and writer, including L.S. Lowry and J.R.R. Tolkien and it is a gateway to stunning countryside, not only in and around Moreton but to neighbouring Cotswold towns and villages.
As I carry out my own unique march around Moreton, these three factors are just as strong as ever and as I don my boots, I can’t think of a better way to experience this town, which originates in Saxon times. Its famous landmark, the nine-foot 16th-century Four Shire Stone has been a meeting place of local boundaries for 12 centuries. Once the place where four shires met, namely Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire and Worcestershire, it is now down to three (the latter no longer included) due to the change in county boundaries. It is more in keeping with how the famous author saw it. Tolkien fans may know it as the ‘Three Farthing Stone’ in The Lord of the Rings, ‘where the borders of the Eastfarthing, Westfarthing and Southfarthing of the Shire came together.’
Marching on
I mention this stone, because it shows the significance of Moreton-in-Marsh’s geographical position. This principal market town is known as the Gateway to the Cotswolds for good reason. Situated on the Fosse Way, it is now served by the main-line railway from London Paddington. It is easy to get to. Walkers come here and use it as a base to walk to neighbouring counties. I highly recommend starting at the Tourist Information Centre, where friendly staff will suggest the best walk for you.
It is always a good idea to have a reliable map, but perhaps more importantly, it is vital to have a great walking companion. We all see things differently and having someone else by your side enables a memory to be shared. On this occasion, my 21-year-old daughter Emily joins me, and I must say we leave uplifted, armed with a few treasures and a lot of laughs. Admittedly our walk is peppered with conversations with local folk, meanders into shops that take our fancy, excellent coffee and tasty treats. After all, travellers need their fuel, and it is what happens along the walk that defines it.
We meet Erica Tomlinson from the Tourist Information Centre, in the High Street, who presents us with the Moreton-in-March town trail. It is a 50-minute walk and a great aid for those wanting to find out more about the town’s history.
‘A lot of people come to Moreton because they consider it the Gateway to the Cotswolds; we have our own railway station and from here many walkers enjoy exploring the towns and villages around the North Cotswolds. We are used as a starting point for people who want to travel around the Cotswolds,’ explains Erica.
We visit on a Friday, but If you come on a Tuesday, there is a busy market with about 20 stalls which is evidence that Moreton still is a very active market town.
We begin our march around Moreton by turning off the High Street into Oxford Street, and passing the Mann Institute, where we go into the enclosed public garden at the back. Edith Mann established the Mann Institute in 1891 in memory of her father John Mann, a congregational church minister. Walking back towards the High Street, we are greeted by the Curfew Tower, also once used as a local lock-up. We are intrigued by the tolls that would have been charged by those using the roads and bringing contraptions such as fair roundabouts, waggons, or coconut shoot driven by a pony on market, fair and other days.
King Charles I
Our map informs us to head towards the White Hart Royal Hotel where King Charles I stayed twice – so say on July 2, 1644, and August 30, 1645. Apparently on one of those occasion he didn’t pay his bill. Intrigued by the Royal connection, we step inside and are shown an historical document in the preserved cobbled passageway – Charles I’s death warrant.
Andy Marlborough, who is maintenance manager, tells us more about this historical figure.
‘It is hearsay that he didn’t pay his bill, but we don’t have any evidence. It is what we have been told and it is written in history books. We do know that he stayed in Room 106 and his guardsmen would have stayed in the room above him. It is now loft space.
‘A lot of people request to stay in this room for the Royal connection, but it is also the best room in the hotel. Our hotel chain motto is ‘great hospitality from the heart’ but I think it particularly applies to Moreton. J.R.R Tolkien also stayed here, either in Room 104 or 108,’ says Andy.
Keeping with the theme of monarchy, we continue walking past the honey-coloured buildings, to Manor House Hotel, before crossing the High Street to the Horse Pool, which was once used by horses, cattle and elephants from a visiting circus. Today the residents are ducks. It is here where enthusiastic walkers embark on the Monarch’s Way, a four-mile hike to Longborough.
We return to the Manor House Hotel and turn left up Church Street, where we pass an Edward VII post box on the wall by the Old Parsonage. The great great grandfather of King Charles III reigned from 1901-1910.
Keeping on the Royal theme, I do get distracted during the walk and at some point, I can’t resist doing what I always do when visiting Moreton: have a go on the zip wire in Queen Victoria Gardens. She may not have been amused, but I think a child-like spirit is an essential survival tool.
The cheese named Rachel
Before continuing on our mini trek, Emily and I can’t resist popping into Cotswold Cheese Company, where a heavy waft of cheese greets us. Even though cheese does not agree with us, we can’t resist it at times, and we love looking at all the exquisite names. I can’t help laughing that amidst the Moreton cheese, named after the town, and the Rollright and Windrush – also locally-inspired cheeses – there is a cheese called Rachel.
‘Apparently the cheesemaker named it after a friend because she was sweet, a little bit nutty and had curves in the right places!’ shop manager Heidi Greene tells us. How fun is that? Imagine having a Tracy cheese or an Emily cheese amongst your stilton and cheddar. Or maybe not!
Heidi literally gives folk a taste of the Cotswolds in this shop with these fabulous cheeses and pickles. This is where you must imagine the wonderful waft coming off the page at this point, or maybe it is an ideal point to grab yourself a slab of cheese?
We digress. But I want to encourage such diversions because it enables you to really taste and see that Moreton is good. Another distraction of mine is freshly made excellent coffee – and I mean excellent. I am a bit of a snob when it comes to coffee. I make no apology. The thing is once you have tasted coffee at its best, it is hard not to forget it, and anything less falls short. Winner of the Coffee Shop of the Year award in Cotswold Life’s Food and Drink Awards 2022 was Grouch Coffee, in Moreton-in-Marsh, owned by Kelly Dixon, so we pop in and see her. Kelly knows her stuff. Although her coffee shop sells homemade delights, there is only one thing that’s really on the agenda. ‘We are all about the coffee,’ says Kelly.
So, why Grouch Coffee? ‘Matt my partner calls me a Grouch in the morning before I’ve had my coffee… and then I am a grouch no more, which is when the shop opens,’ is her answer. I am sure those who pop in early doors to get their morning fix are also less grouchy because of the coffee she makes them. She opens at 6.30am which must be a godsend for those catching an early train or are on their way to work.
‘I am often the first person many people speak to. I know their order, so they don’t have to ask; instead we carry on conversations we have had the day before,’ says Kelly.
She’s done well. During Covid, she sold coffee from a little three-wheeled Tuk Tuk Piaggio Ape, originally at Kingham Railway Station before moving to Moreton Railway Station. Kelly later managed to secure crowdfunding to open her coffee shop in New Road two years ago, in February 2021. As a baker’s daughter, she has been baking cakes since she was a young girl, with brownies her speciality. They are the perfect accompaniment to her award-winning coffee.
As my daughter Emily points out, there is a certain unique vibe about Grouch Coffee which is rare to find. She is right. Grouch Coffee is not just about making the perfect coffee, is it about providing a community hub, where a warm welcome is extended to all. It is what attracted Elizabeth Butler and Amelia Knight, and it is why they are now employees – because they share and understand the Grouch ethos.
Tolkien and Lowry
Coffee in hand, Emily and I continue our march, although we have deviated somewhat. To be honest, it is much more fun when you make a walk personal, adding in the extra touches which Moreton provides. Included in our walk is The Bell Inn, widely accepted as the inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien’s Prancing Pony in The Lord of the Rings. It was here that Tolkien often met his brother, who lived in Evesham. Further down the High Street is Redesdale Hall, Moreton’s town hall – currently surrounded by scaffolding, due to having renovation work. Built in 1887, the hall was a subject for the painter L.S. Lowry who visited the Cotswolds in the 1940s. It is now part of a private collection owned by Sir Elton John.
No.1 Cotswolds
Having visited Moreton-in-Marsh many times, as a child and in recent years for work, I notice shops that have gone and new ones that have opened. Emily and I are sad to see that the lovely toy shop is no more. But further down the High Street we notice No.1 Cotswolds, an exciting new venture which celebrates everything that’s good about this area. Owned by Craig and Amy Stanley who run Blockley Café just outside Moreton, and Simon and Julia Wright, this business, based in a 400-year-old building, highlights what makes the Cotswolds what it is. It is deli, restaurant and homeware stockist.
‘It has taken us a year of hard work to bring this old building up to 2020s standards and it was no mean feat, but we finally opened the doors in the spring of 2022,’ Simon tells me.
‘We try and source everything we can from the Cotswolds and that includes the wood we built the counters and tables with. It came from an old tree in Evesham.’
‘We would love to open No. 1 Cotswolds in other local towns, and ultimately it would be great to have one in Convent Garden, so we take the Cotswolds to London.’
On the top floor is another business, an art gallery owned by Simon and his brother Nicholas, specialising in rare and unique items that represent the very finest in craftsmanship and design.
‘We have always had a dream of owning our own art gallery. We’ve called it the James Anthony Gallery, using our middle names and we liked the fact it spelt out JAG,’ adds Simon.
It is refreshing to see how Moreton has helped entrepreneurs realise their dreams. Another refreshment stop on our walk leads us to Otis & Belle, an artisan sourdough bakery and patisserie, which opened in October 2020. There is a lot to see, taste and experience in Moreton-in-Marsh, but I leave the last words to Lacey Pitcher, a regular at Grouch Coffee, who explains what brought her to the town.
‘I came to Moreton one day and bought a house!’ she says. First impressions really do count. Emily and I don’t quite have the funds to do that on this occasion. But we go away happy all the same, determined that one day we may have a cheese named after us.
