The Dandy Highwaymen
My second walk inspired by the Loremen Podcast, where the hosts share (and debunk) folklore. This time, going back to the C18th and the story of the original Tom, Dick and Harry.
The picturesque village of Fulbrook, a mile north of Burford, was the birthplace of three of the Wychwood forest's most notorious robbers.
The Dunsdon brothers, Tom, Dick and Harry, used a cottage across the country border in Icomb, Gloucestershire as a base from which to commit a number of crimes in the Burford area.
They specialised in burglary, theft and highway robbery, once holding up the Oxford to Gloucester coach and stealing £500, a fortune in their day.
The key locations of their lives easily adaptable into an 11 mile Cotswold romp, using pretty Burford as the base.
Their Home Village
The three brothers were born in Fulbrook, about a mile from Burford. Reached towards the end of the walk, it consists of a main road, a slightly off-centre church and a coaching house.
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| Good Beer Guide Pubs available in Burford |
Crime Scene
Loose lips sink ships and in this case, lose limbs. The three brothers plotted the robbery of Tangley Hall at their local, the Bird in Hand. News got through to the owners, who were prepared for the raid.
Dick attempted to reach through a judas hole in the front door to get access to the lock. The residents were ready for them and roped his arm, forcing Dick to shout "Cut It". He must have meant the rope, but in Chuckle Brothers style, his brothers lopped his arm off. Dick was never seen again,.
Tangley Hall is a remote farmhouse located about 4 miles north of Burford in quiet woodland, accessible by public footpaths.
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| All quiet at Tangley Hall |
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| AI insists the Dunsdons were the inspiration for Harry Enfield's The Scousers |
Another Crime Scene and the Gibbet Tree
1784 and the two surviving brothers are back at their favourite watering hole for the Whitsuntide Festival. A bet with the Landlord for a sack of potatoes goes wrong and one of the brothers shoots the Governor. Everyone loves chips, but this is too much. The brothers were arrested, sent to Gloucester for a hanging sentence and their bodies gibbeted to serve as a warning to others. Their initials and the date were carved (and frequently recarved) into the tree until the Internet arrived and we had other ways of telling stories.
The landlord survived, with the bullet hitting a lucky coin in his waistcoat.
But this is the C18th. You shoot the most important man in society and you're going to have your rotting body hung in a tree as tourist attraction.
For the walk's benefit, evidence remains to be linked into the route.
The Bird in Hand is long gone. Not even detailed on www.beerintheevening.com. It was located on Capp's Lodge Plain - with the farmhouse building serving as inn and in more recent times, a smallpox hospital. But look closely at the OS map, and the Gibbet Tree is clearly marked.
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| Highlighted in Yellow |
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| I remembered my Telephoto lens |
If the Internet contains one type of person, its the amateur sleuth. You can search on the Dudsdons and the Gibbet Tree and follow wormholes that tell that even though it is on private land, there used to be a Geocache (archived, 2015). Many photos of the tree through the seasons but this one from a few years ago of most interest;
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| Tom, the most prominent remaining mark |
Hauntings
The story goes on - on the way from taking the bodies from Gloucester to the Gibbet Tree, the coach drivers stopped for a pint at the George Inn in Burford. In a world of perpetual change, its good that some traditions survive. The brothers were known to drink there themselves and their spirits followed for a last pint. Strange sounds and inexplicable happenings have been reported in the building since the C18th. The restless ghosts of Tom and Harry are hopefully more active now the George has been converted into an antique shop.
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| Things will go bump in the night until it comes back as a 'spoons |
Other Stuff in Burford
Its a charming little town - think Broadway but with more traffic. A single lane, pedestrian unfriendly bridge causing the bottleneck. Legends about the spirit of Lady Tanfield captured in a bottle and thrown in the stream below. She will remain trapped in the first bridge arch below until the Windrush dries up. Little chance of that, in this dampest of global warming winters.
More credible stories about the three Levellers executed and buried in the church yard. I know there weren't as good as the New Model Army, but the irony that it was Cromwell who ordered this.
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| Tombs and effigys aplenty inside |
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| Three of the Levellers |
The best of the architecture and away from the traffic, is in Sheep Street.
The Good Beer Guide Pubs
An 11 mile walk demands refreshment and the bible details two watering holes. A half in each and the hope of a Sunday lunch that isn't a Sunday lunch. A sandwich will suffice.
The Angel is a pretty little Hook Norton House. A Gastropub, with every table setup for dining. A friendly landlord offering to move cutlery for a hard core half of Old Hooky drinker like myself. I couldn't trouble him, so I moved to the sheltered beer garden to keep out the way.
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| Will Sir be dining? |
You are never sure what you are going to find in a Greene King. Alas, I will never find out with The Golden Pheasant looking like the landlord did a midnight flit. A blow to the Burford comedy scene for sure.
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| Dubious Ticks Committee notified |
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| Will I be the first to notify Pubs Galore? |
The Mermaid opposite also recently closed. The staff at the Cotswold Arms lamenting the lack of pub love in this part of the world, whilst also offering a fine steak and mushroom baguette.
Walk Details
Distance - 11 miles
Walk Inspiration - Locations from the Loreman Podcast, Episode 2
Geocaches - 1 and an Adventure Lab Cache in Burford
Previous Loremen Walks - Churchill
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