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ADVENTURES IN THE COTSWOLDS
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(1st of a series)
That ethereal community, the imaginary perfect English village
what would its components be? There
would surely be a village green. Of course, the greengrocer will display
the freshest fruit and veg along the footpath in front of his tidy shop.
All the callboxes will be painted with the traditional red lacquer and
the pub must have windows of leaded glass and a mahogany interior.
Shouldn't the stone church tower be the highest structure in town? And
flowers! There must be climbing roses of all colors at all times of
year, and lilacs and others to festoon the roof eaves and drip over the
garden walls. But the architecture
what should it be? Half-timbered Tudor? Honey-golden limestone?
Thatched gingerbread? Elizabethan? Georgian? Edwardian? Regency?
Medieval?
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Join
us today as we stalk the perfect English village. Our first nominee is: |
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Stanton is hardly big enough to make the map. And, unlike its famous
neighbors in the Cotswolds Hills (better-known Bourton-on-the-Hill and
Chipping Camden come to mind), Stanton lacks a clue to its exceptional
village quality in its rather plain name. However, in the words of a
famous neighbor, whats in a name?
Nothing
may be rarer than the virgin village. That Stanton remains pure qualifies it for
nomination on our perfect English village list. It is perhaps Stanton’s very
smallness and anonymity that have ensured its pristine condition. Larger villages, like
nearby Broadway, have succumbed to some of the pressures of
busloads of day visitors who scour |
FRESHLY
WASHED BY A SPRING SHOWER,
COTTAGES OF COTSWOLD STONE DRIP
WITH COLORFUL BLOOMS ALONG THE
GLISTENING STREETS OF STANTON VILLAGE. |
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SNOW LIKE POWDERED
SUGAR ON GINGERBREAD:
STANTON IN WINTER. |
its lovely high street and
prowl its back lanes ticking off entries from its high-profile catalog
of gems.
Stanton’s diminutive size makes it easy to see in its entirety. It can be strolled
and enjoyed fully in 45 minutes. And it has most of the architecture you would expect to
find in larger places: cottage rows of exquisite honey-colored Cotswold
limestone, some thatched, and a classic medieval village church, St.
Michael's. There are flowers everywhere, of course, as if each day
brings a new village floral competition.
What Stanton doesnt have is lots of shops and restaurants.
Stanton remains residential, aloof, uninterested in capitalizing on the
prying eyes of the visitor. Stanton is the perfect Cotswold village in
aspic. You may visit, but you cannot stay. There will be no commercial
souvenirs available. The thirsty and hungry can seek succor at the
village's one lively pub and hikers' mecca,
The Mount Inn, at the northern |
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Stanton on a steep access to the long-distance
Cotswolds Way walking path. Here you can eat
well and enjoy a pint of local Donnington real ale before or after doing
an hour's loop on the Cotswolds Way. If, however, you choose to stroll
only the 15 minutes it takes to see all of Stanton, the spirit of
the dedicated stalker of perfect English villages will be satisfied like
a gourmands appetite after a perfect meal.
STANTON
LAMPPOST |
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You can stalk
Stanton and many other perfect English villages.
Read about HOME AT FIRST travel programs to: |
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THE COTSWOLDS |
DEVON AND CORNWALL |
SHROPSHIRE AND CHESHIRE |
THE LAKE DISTRICT |
NORTH YORKSHIRE AND THE DALES |
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