Stow-On-The-Wold

It's 3 June 1994 and the trip starts, as any self-respecting trip to the Cotswolds starts, at Stow-On-The-Wold.

Lots of villages in the Cotswolds have a string of hyphenated words as a name. Apart from Stow-On-The-Wold, there's Moreton-On-The-Marsh, Foot-In-The-Cowplat, Nettle-Sting-Behind-The-Knee and of course, Bourton-On-The-Water. At least one of those actually exists and we'll end up there later because Stow-On-The-Wold has no Guest-Houses-With-Vacancies...

So, the Cotswolds then... An area of outstanding beauty and lots of quaint little villages whose buildings are almost all unique rather than a collection of the same design. Lots of them have given firms of modellers and ceramics like Lilliput Lane a rich source for their catalogue and Miss Franny has at least half of the Cotswolds, modelled in miniature, taking up 53 display cabinets, friends' lofts and stuck upside down on the ceiling as we got ever more desperate for space to put them!

However, back then in 1994 she didn't have any and holidays and shopping trips were spent trying to drag her away from shop window displays, bottom lip stuck out and an accusatory finger pointing at the examples in the shop with the words "Want to start collecting them!" ringing in my ears. Yes dear, of course... wouldn't you rather have another guitar? No? Why not try one to make sure?

Ah thank you lads - see I knew if I waited long enough you'd get fed up of making V-signs... The market cross was minus its cross from the top of the post that weekend. Must have been being cleaned or something...

For some reason or other, both Miss Franny and daughter Gill were reluctant to enter into the spirit of things by trying out the stocks properly...

Return to England's Cotswolds Holiday 1994 Index Page

A Cottage Industry

Thursday 22 February 1996

Corfe Castle. Somewhere I'd always wanted to go to having seen so many beautiful photographs, but when we got there the weather had decided to do the nasty on us and we had to wander around in the rain. Still, without a doubt it was a lovely place to visit.

Not only the castle was of architectural interest. Almost every building was unique and we found the smallest Town Hall in England, a village pump encased in a blue-painted wooden casing and a gorgeous view of the ruined castle on its high mound, towering over the main street.

Fran was interested in finding the inspiration behind one of her Lilliput Lane cottages, Purbeck Stores.

We decided that the shop shown above was the closest contender.

February is probably not the best time to see England, though it gives a different perspective to some of the picture postcard views that you see on chocolate boxes, jigsaws and cards.

We vowed to return in better weather. All we've actually managed to do since then is visit in summer... which is not quite the same thing!

Large Versions of the Photos: Corfe Castle shop, Purbeck Stores model