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.

Notice more of my favorite dry stone walls!

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.