Day 1 Chipping Campden to Stanton

Weather:   Cloudy with rain showers and strong wind

Distance   covered today: 18.1km ( 11.3 mi)

Last night’s   B&B: The Court (£60)

%   Complete:11.4%

GPS satellite   track of today’s route: Day1 (click!)

It may be a little early to judge, but already the feel of the walk is taking shape. We walked today from delightful Chipping Campden through perfect Broadway to what is apparently the most quintessential of Cotswold villages, Stanton.  Not a stone is out of place, every lawn is manicured, every planting thoughtfully planned. There is an otherworldly feel about it. Nowhere is this more pronounced than in Broadway, where even the shop displays look as if they have been designed by the town’s tourism committee.

Once upon a very long time ago, I read a satirical article, I think by Alan Coren, though I can’t remember for sure, about the way England was developing.  It was a time of economic distress with increasing unemployment as a result of the rapid decline of the manufacturing sector and well before the big bang in the City. The author noted that the only growth industry was tourism and the only thing that England had to sell was its past, but the country was failing to make the most of the opportunity.  He argued that England could corner a unique market by doing almost nothing. The idea was that the country and all its inhabitants would just become a gigantic theme park where everyone lived as their ancestors had done hundreds of years ago. There would be the minor inconveniences of having to wear old clothes and ignore tourists who come to look at you in your own home as you go about your daily bread-making and soil tilling. He thought the English would be very good at this because their attitudes were anyway locked in the past and they generally distrust the future. I couldn’t help thinking that the author must have imagined this scenario when he was travelling through Broadway some day long ago. And I bet the place hasn’t changed an iota ever since.

Having said that, it remains indescribably beautiful. The unique architecture is facilitated by the immediate presence of ‘oolitic’ limestone rock which has been used for centuries for building in the Cotswolds. This limestone is unusually malleable which has enabled stone masons to carve out the most intricate designs including elaborate decorative detail and imposing residence frontages in a competitive frenzy. But for me, the most interesting feature is how all the architecture is at one.  It just fits. The imposing, sumptuous façade of a rich man’s house might be in close proximity to a row of more humble dwellings, but the unifying elements of the architecture make the whole simply harmonious. Nowhere is this more evident than among the almshouses and manor houses in Chipping Campden.

The unifying theme is evident within the architectural elements of individual houses as well. For instance, most of the roofs are made of limestone “slate”.  In days of yore, limestone rocks were immersed in water in winter. The water would freeze and the rocks would then be heated quickly, resulting in a clean fracture which could be used as roofing material. The large “slates” were placed low on the roofs, with the smaller “slates” near to the ridge. For me, looking at this from street level, the effect was of a receding perspective, making the roofs look much larger than in fact they are, though this must of course have been unintentional.  The fact that the roofs and the walls are built of the same material adds to the coherence of the whole.  Getting planning permission to do something different must be hell!

Outside the villages, seen from a distance, the built environment seems to fit perfectly into the natural milieu as well. The honey coloured stone is at peace with its environment.  It’s almost as if human intervention has improved the natural surroundings and that is not something I can say of most other places I’ve been!

The early part of the walk today required the traditional trudge up a hill out of town, but this time with an unexpected benefit at the top. For the first time, we were able to see the view down the side of the escarpment which will accompany us most of the way to Bath. Also, interestingly, we came to Dover’s Hill which is the original site of the Olimpick Games. These games have been held here for centuries and include all sorts of exotic games including the origin of sack races and a rather ominous sounding game called shin-kicking.  At the time I was waving my walking poles around while expounding voluminously on some esoteric subject and managed to catch John amidships with a pole. Quick as a flash, he informed me, through his pain, that walking pole-spearing was not one of the Olimpick Games!

And on a more sombre note, I have to inform you sadly, that in the competition of route-finding, which some may remember from Offa’s Dyke, today, by sleight of hand and superior negotiating skill, John has edged ahead in the competition with a score of 4-2 to him. This, despite all my efforts and all my electronics and him with only a 1:50,000 map that he had specially printed with my name on it!  I will certainly have to up my game tomorrow!

The view from my bedroom window last night

 

The start of the Cotswold Way

 

The site of the Olimpick Games

 

John and his downloaded OS map. Note the title!!

 

Forget-me-nots, Cowslips and a Dandelion

 

What is this? Yasmin wants to know and John can’t help!

 

A lamb for Phyllis!

 

Broadway Tower, of William Morris and the ‘Arts and Craft’ Movement fame

 

John in photographer mode

 

Yasmin

 

Broadway

 

Exquisite Stanton