What a delightful peek at the English countryside! I loved my visit to the Cotswolds yesterday, traveling not too far from Bath over rolling hills filled with canola plants in brilliant yellow bloom and into gentle valleys with drippingly picturesque, tranquil little villages. These towns have grown prettier through the centuries by using their own local honey-colored limestone to build humble cottages as well as large churches and manor homes. They’re also characterized by their limestone slate roofs – not thatched as I had thought.
True to their name, this area was replete with “cots” (sheep) and “wolds” (rolling hills), yet the sheep are no longer used as the basis for a robust wool industry – another misconception on my part. In fact, I learned that not much wool is made in the Cotswolds these days. And frankly I don’t even want to mention what the baby sheep are now primarily used for.
Castle Combe, once voted “the prettiest little village in England,” (and where Dr. Dolittle was filmed with Rex Harrison), was just one of our many stops and drive-throughs. Enjoyed Badminton (yes, it was invented there at the manor house), Malmesbury (Dyson vacuum cleaners invented here!), Cirencester, and Bibury (with its frequently photographed – I didn’t disappoint! - Arlington Row houses), nestled along the River Coln.
We “carried on” (words of our English driver) through Winson, Northleach, Upper and Lower Slaughter, Bourton, and Tetbury where I peeked into a little shop called High Grove, owned by Prince Charles. The High Grove estate itself was just down the road, with over 300 acres of organic farming.
True to their name, this area was replete with “cots” (sheep) and “wolds” (rolling hills), yet the sheep are no longer used as the basis for a robust wool industry – another misconception on my part. In fact, I learned that not much wool is made in the Cotswolds these days. And frankly I don’t even want to mention what the baby sheep are now primarily used for.
Castle Combe, once voted “the prettiest little village in England,” (and where Dr. Dolittle was filmed with Rex Harrison), was just one of our many stops and drive-throughs. Enjoyed Badminton (yes, it was invented there at the manor house), Malmesbury (Dyson vacuum cleaners invented here!), Cirencester, and Bibury (with its frequently photographed – I didn’t disappoint! - Arlington Row houses), nestled along the River Coln.
We “carried on” (words of our English driver) through Winson, Northleach, Upper and Lower Slaughter, Bourton, and Tetbury where I peeked into a little shop called High Grove, owned by Prince Charles. The High Grove estate itself was just down the road, with over 300 acres of organic farming.
How beautiful! Who are you there with?
ReplyDeleteFor the first part of my trip I was on my own. And now I'm in London with two of my nieces and two friends from Bloomington.
ReplyDelete