Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The Cotswolds

map from www.cotswoldshuttle.com

Far from the noise, hurry, and congestion of London lies the beautiful limestone village of Stanton in the Cotswolds, 'the heart of England.' I wonder who lives in these gorgeous homes and what they do for a living. How far do they have to drive to work, or are they independently wealthy or extremely popular authors or celebrities. I wonder if they would consider making me the beneficiary of their large life insurance policy. Or even their small life insurance policy.

The mill at Lower Slaughter.  It was when I walked around the corner that I saw a man and his dog, waiting outside a gift shop for their master. :-) It's always easy to strike up a conversation with a fellow dog owner. Everyone wants to tell you about their dog. Yes, that would include me, as you can tell from many of my posts. :-)

The name Lower Slaughter is a bit disturbing, until you find out that it stems from the Old English term for a wet land, slough or possibly from the Old English term for muddy place, slothre.  And yes, there is an 'Upper Slaughter' just a bit down the road. Or perhaps that was UP the road. I can't remember if it's by elevation or map direction.


A wide spot in the road, Hawling, with its iconic English phone box and post box, side by side. I've always wanted a red English phone box for my garden. Wouldn't that be cool! I even have a mannequin I could pose in the phone box, although she's residing with a cousin in the southern part of the state at the moment. Long story. Can't you just see 'Daphne' ringing up 'Tristan' about some issue she's having with her English Springer Spaniel. I can.




Frisky lambs at play in a pasture north of Cirencester.

Bourton-on-the-Water, where Angela and I ended up missing our sign on the public footpath and getting into a large grassy area where a bull was pastured. Yikes!

Northleach Parish Church of St. Peter and St. Paul.

Just in case you missed the other photo of Cotswold sheep. Lambing season. We rolled down the windows of the car and turned off the engine just so we could listen to the bleating of the sheep and lambs. It was music to my ears!

Oddly, when my husband and I were there, he couldn't understand why I took so many photos of sheep. 'Judy, we do have sheep in Wisconsin.' Okay, so these sheep are different - and I think they bleat with a British accent which makes them ever so much more appealing. :-)

Sudeley Castle Chapel. Catherine Parr, the sixth of Henry VIII's wives, is buried here. Shortly after Henry died, Catherine married Sir Thomas Seymour, whom she had wanted to marry earlier, but that was before Henry had made her an offer she couldn't refuse. By the time Henry died, Sir Thomas Seymour had become Lord Seymour of Sudeley.

Interior of the small Sudeley Chapel with its ornate rood screen.

Catherine in repose, in a little alcove off the sanctuary. She and General Lee would make nice bookends.

The ruins of Sudeley Castle. I heard that Hugh Grant frequents this area to visit friends. My only exposure to Hugh Grant was 'Two Weeks' Notice,' but he is remarkably funny in that movie - one of my favorites!


I long to return to England for my fix of castle and abbey ruins!  As you might suspect, there aren't many in NW Wisconsin.

8 comments:

Denise said...

I truly enjoyed this journey today, thank you. The pictures are lovely.

Deborah said...

I too enjoyed the journey today. I especially love the photos of the sheep. (love sheep!)
I was thinking maybe the castle was named Sudeley because Ann subtly and suddenly married Thomas after Henry died. :D (I remember on PBS many years ago watching the whole series of the wives of Henry the 8th.) It was very interesting. It seems that some of them didn't fare very well.
The photos today was like you were there without actually being there. Thanks for a wonderful post!

partialemptynester said...

Oh, I feel like I just went on vacation! So wonderful, what a great report...I love poking around in local neighborhoods when I visit "other worlds"! I love all your comments, I would have thought many of the same things! Aww, rested and refreshed from that short jaunt, I can continue on my day with a little lighter step ;)

Pam said...

I enjoyed this journey with you (except for a small amount of jealousy because I want to go to England!).
I think people are more aware of food allergies now. I'm glad because it's easier to find products that taste decent now.

Anonymous said...

So enjoyed this visit my dear friend! You are so fortunate to be experiencing all of that peacefulness that those beautiful landscapes are offering you.

Carrie @ Cottage Cozy said...

What a gorgeous country and beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing them with us all!

And thanks for stopping by for my home tour tour...I hope to see you again!

By the way...hope you can return to England soon!

Anonymous said...

What a great tour! Thank you so much for all of those great pictures. :)
Blessings to you,
Sue :)

Heide said...

So Beautiful!!!
Would you ming if I printed a copy of the first one and framed it?? What is it about England? It is not like we aren't happy with Wisconsin! I think Wisconsin is a very pretty place. And we have rolling hills and forests. But England!! sigh!

This is going on my list of must see, when ever I get there!

Thank you for sharing! You are keeping a fellow Anglophilly alive and inspired!

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