Quintessential English Countryside … The Cotswolds

Our next stop on our travels is Blockey, a quintessential village in the Cotswolds. Close your eyes and picture Manor houses and thatched roofed cottages of the particular honey-gold Cotswold stone in the village grown during the silk trade. Imagine an English cottage complete with stone walls, fireplace, babbling brook, pheasants criss- crossing the grassworn pathway to the door.

Imagine the community store with run as a co-op by local people who know almost everyone who enters. At the center is a church, a stone structure with a stalwart bell tower with actual bell ringers, and a congregation that support each other, (and if you watch public television Father Brown is filmed here). It is good to be back here.

We arrive to the Primrose cottage. The Primrose Cottage is on Brook lane, literally a brook with a narrow path on one bank to allow us to pass. The walls of the cottage are honey colored Cotswold stone, stuccoed white inside. Wood beams outline the ceiling, vaulted in places and low and dangerous to anyone over 5’5”…(see David’s head for proof).

The St. Peter and St. Paul Church is a venerable old church in a quaint churchyard dotted with moss covered tombstones and surrounded with an iron fence. Four years ago when we visited, the congregation was so gracious and welcoming. We have kept in touch with a woman we met several years ago and exchange a card once or twice a year. We were looking forward to seeing her and sharing a visit. This is the second winter the church has been closed as heating the old structure is too costly. The congregation still gathers, but up the hill in a hall. We learned our friend’s family was being prayed for as they face a devastating illness. Despite so much to challenge them, a message awaited us and the congregation gathered to continue to support each other. An uplifting sense of community and care is tangible, and so the village church lives on.

The character and charm of the Cotswold is burgeoning forth. Each village is hosting a Christmas market or a Christmas tree festival or a Carol sing. Broadway, sometimes called the Jewel of the Cotswolds, gives everyone the chance to feel the magic of It’s A Wonderful Life.

The shops extend their shopping hours. The town green, bedecked with trees strewn with twinkle lights, and lined with tables and stalls set up by school groups, church groups, businesses and charities, joyfully compete to welcome Christmas with decadent hot chocolate, spiced mulled wine and hot cider. The community chorus and community band perform.

As you stroll along the bespoke shops and cozy taverns and hotels festooned with greenery, you expect to see George Bailey running down the street shouting Merry Christmas.

The weather, foggy and damp, has turned colder. The crystalline trees and frosted grass look like glass. Oddly, the fog seems to freeze causing a glisten in the air. The sun sets at about 3:50 pm making the evenings long, but … while the weather outside is frightful, the fire ( in most pubs, restaurants and even our Primrose cottage) is so delightful … so we breath in the charm and toast the spirit of Christmas.

We soldier on. Those Christmas markets aren’t going to celebrate themselves! Day or night the beauty and charm of the Cotswolds rings true whether it is Bourton-on the – water, the Venice of the Cotswolds, with its low arched bridges spanning the river linking one lovely stretch of shops with another. Ducks swim and tilt upside down, tails in the air as they fish for food. Birds of many varieties fill the trees. The birdsong is its own draw. Or

Perhaps it is Chipping Camden, the market village that grew in the wool trade, when the lion backed Cotswold sheep were considered to have the finest wool in the world, with its

Market Hall still standing amid High st., or Stow on the Wold, the large market square important for its history from ancient Roman to English Civil war, to market prominence, with a large Sheep street. The ancient cross in the center end of the square and the stocks at the other are reminders of the past. Today it draws shoppers and visitors alike. Everywhere we go there have been friendly people bubbling with holiday cheer.

After so much wandering what better than to end the evening with dinner at the Fleece Inn in Oddington. The Fleece Inn was built as a long house in the 15th century, A pub was built in the 17th century that was run by the same family until the 1970’s when it was bequeathed to the National Trust. The December Christmas celebration there- dinner by candlelight and twinkle light only.

The ceiling held branches fastened to the beams and streaming with tiny white lights. The cozy rooms each had huge fireplaces and Christmas crackers (filled with jokes, trivia, charade prompts) provided a festive mood as each table popped them, placing their paper crowns on their heads as they played the games.

The meal was scrumptious, too! Now home to the Primrose cottage!