グラインプトンの湖・トップ4

Enjoy a jog along the beautiful Oxfordshire Way just outside the village of Charlbury. You'll pass open fields, pockets of woodland and glistening lakes.

Winston Churchill's father called the view of Blenheim Palace, its lake and the Grand Bridge the finest in England. It certainly all looks grand from the edge of this beautiful, man-made lake. When Blenheim Palace was first built, the lake was not much more than a marshy stream. It was 'Capability' Brown who imagined a grand lake as part of his great vision for Blenheim Park. In 1764, he dammed the River Glyme, creating the lake and its series of beautiful cascades. Today, Blenheim Park is a Site of Special Scientific Interest due, in part, to the lake's importance for breeding and wintering birds.

Nestled on the River Glyme in the beautiful Cotswolds AONB, Old Chalford is a charming hamlet to the east of Chipping Norton. The river is dammed here, forming a number of ponds. The nearby Glyme Valley Nature Reserve boasts myriad habitats: river, ponds, fen, marshy grassland, limestone grassland, scrub and wet woodland. It is home to several badger setts.

554 acres (224 ha) of glorious parkland await at Blenheim Park, which occupies most of Blenheim Palaces' grounds. The park is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the habitats it supports. Whilst you have to pay to enter the palace and formal gardens, the park's many footpaths are free to enter. You can take a stroll by the lake, explore the woodland areas, or find a tranquil spot for a picnic.