People tend to think of July as the peak of summer, but we have always preferred August. The light is different — softer and more golden, lower in the sky even at midday. The fields around the properties are turning from green to amber. The hedgerows are full of blackberries. There is a sense that the countryside is settling into itself.

It is, we think, the most beautiful time of year in Cheshire.

The harvest

The farms around the properties are busy in August. The wheat and barley fields that have been green since spring are now golden, and on a clear day the view from the upper floors of The Old Vicarage — across the Cheshire Plain towards the Welsh hills — is extraordinary.

If you are walking the routes we recommend, the footpaths through the fields take on a different character at this time of year. The crops are high on either side, the paths are narrow, and there is something almost cathedral-like about walking through them on a still morning.

What is on locally

The Nantwich Show takes place in late July and early August and is one of the great agricultural shows of the north of England. It is not a tourist attraction — it is a proper farming event — and that is exactly what makes it worth going to. The livestock judging, the food stalls, the sheer scale of it.

Delamere Forest is at its best in late summer. The paths are dry, the light through the trees is extraordinary in the early morning, and the café at the visitor centre is reliably good. It is an easy drive from all three properties.

Chester is worth a day in August. The city is busy but not overwhelmingly so, and the combination of the Roman walls, the Rows, and the river makes it one of the most interesting cities in England. We have a list of restaurants and bars we actually like — ask us when you book and we will send it over.

The kitchen garden at The Carriage House

August is when the kitchen garden at The Carriage House is at its most productive. The raised beds are full of courgettes, tomatoes, beans, and herbs. Guests are welcome to use whatever is ready — there is usually more than enough.

If you are staying at The Carriage House and want to make the most of it, the private chef experience works particularly well at this time of year. The chefs we work with are good at using what is available locally and seasonally, and a dinner built around what is in the garden and what is coming from the farms nearby is a genuinely special thing.

A quieter kind of stay

One thing we notice in August is that guests tend to slow down more than they do in July. The school holidays are winding down, the urgency of peak summer has passed, and people seem more willing to just be somewhere rather than trying to do everything.

That is, honestly, what the properties are for. A long breakfast. A walk in the morning. An afternoon doing very little. A good dinner. The kind of stay that you actually feel the benefit of when you get home.

If you have not been to Cheshire in late summer, it is worth making the trip. We have availability at all three properties through August and into September — get in touch if you would like to know more.