Welcome to Inglesham

WILTSHIRE'S most northerly hamlet, Inglesham, borders the counties of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire and it's debatable whether it is in Wiltshire at all, despite its distinctly Wiltshire postcode.

According to the folks at Ordnance Survey, Inglesham falls within the boundaries of Swindon, which is a unitary authority, and as the OS people point out: "This is an administrative map of the area. Swindon has been added because it is obviously associated with Wiltshire - in the same way that Southampton is with Hampshire."

Which means, Inglesham IS part of Wiltshire, but only just. Difficult to find on any map, the village/hamlet/winding road may symbolize to many the idyll of the country retreat. The name is derived from 'Inggeneshamme' meaning enclosure or river meadow and house prices here are high.

What does however distinguish Inglesham from many of its backwoods country cousins are its church and its polo centre.

Yes, here in the middle of nowhere is an all-year-round polo stables with its own international size outdoor arena, four outdoor polo grounds, a floodlit indoor arena and a recommendation from none other than "Polo" novelist Jilly Cooper. "Anyone with a brave heart and a desire for huge excitement and fun cannot do better than learn and play polo here," she says.

Every year, Inglesham becomes a home-from-home to polo enthusiasts from Norway and, of all places, Thailand. The polo season lasts from October to March and begins again in April, only to finish in September, or in other words, all year round. More than 100 horses (or 'ponies' to use the insider's lingo) are looked after at the centre and incredibly, beginners are welcome.

The Churches Conservation Trust now cares for St John The Baptist's, a house of worship that dates from the early 16th Century. Down a winding lane barely signposted is a church with extraordinary architecture, having remained substantially unaltered since the early 1500s.

Now redundant, it is dark and cold inside, with pews the ecclesiastical equivalent of cattle pens, entirely boxing in the worshippers. Astonishing and haunting in equal measure, St John's is worth visiting, though maybe with friends and a portable generator should the lights on your car suddenly fail you!