When I was in The Cotswolds, our main “base of operations” there was an AirBnB cottage in the charming town of Stow-on-the-Wold, once a famed market town for the equally famed Cotswold sheep. (What a perfect spot for a knitter to hang out, non?)
The little town has many alleyways (officially called “tures“) that wend their way through town. These alleyways were originally designed and built to herd sheep in an orderly manner from the pastures to the market square where they could be sold. As you can see, Fleece Alley is well marked, and you can walk through the alley like a little shortcut through town.
Market Square in Stow-on-the-Wold is just charming, with old inns and shops and tearooms and pubs and restaurants. It is The Place To Be in Stow-on-the-Wold, let me tell you. There is a lovely information center and library in the middle of the square, but it was open only erratically, so I never got inside.
Despite the strong history and local connection to Cotswold sheep, I never saw any yarn in any of the shops I visited. (I certainly could have missed it . . . but I was looking and didn’t see any.) I did find a lovely sweater (which I bought and brought home with me), and many sheep-themed souvenirs (which I didn’t).
I also never actually took a photo of the square itself, but perhaps these shots of buildings ON the square will give you a sense of the flavor of the place. (As you might guess, there is a church on Church Street. The very one with that Tolkien door. . . )
We did take a little ramble one morning . . . through the square, through a different alleyway, across a rather busy road, through a kissing gate (no photo of that either, but it looked JUST like the one in the Wikipedia entry I linked), and across the local cricket pitch to see . . . this view of a sheep farm, complete with sheep.
A little cottage across from our charming little AirBnb cottage had this display of little sheep in their front window. I felt quite (ahem) . . . sheepish . . . stopping to take this photo on our way home from dinner one evening, but I couldn’t resist.
And what’s that other photo, you’re probably asking? Well. It may not be knitting with yarn from Cotswold sheep . . . but it is knitting I started on my trip. (It’s this shawl with this yarn from deep in my stash.) So what do you know . . . some ACTUAL knitting!
How about you?
What are you working on these days?
This is just so lovely, Kym! Thank you so much for taking us all along vicariously! That shawl with that yarn though… perfection!!
It’s interesting to see that Cotswold stone and the area really looks just like I’ve been picturing it. Maybe it becomes the norm if you live there and see all those sights every day, but it sure is picturesque!
Lovely post, Kym. A good representation of the Cotswolds.
I’m wondering if you’ve ever seen the British show Escape to the Country? It’s on several platforms including Britbox. I often watch it while preparing dinner. It gives one a sense of all the rural areas of England (and Scotland, and Wales.)
It looks like a lovely trip, Kym! Like Bonny, it is much as I always pictured in my head from all my reading. Thanks for sharing these photos. I think your shawl is fabulous, and I am impressed with your progress. Sorry I missed the zoom. I adopted a mixed breed terrier on Monday, and he is taking up a lot of my time. I am so happy to have him, and I ignore him at my peril. LOL
It does indeed look like a lovely trip Kym. It looks so calming and peaceful and sort of how I pictured it too. Your shawl and yarn are gorgeous – have fun knitting!
I love these photos — it looks like you were in a Masterpiece show! It looks so charming. I’m surprised you couldn’t find any Cotswold yarn, though you saw some yarn on the hoof, which is almost as good!
Thanks for this really lovely trip through the Cotswolds, Kym. I almost feel like I’ve been there. A while back I started reading Ken Follet’s Pillars of the Earth which gives an interesting depiction of the medieval wool trade as part of the novel’s background. If you get no further (those books are l-o-n-g) you might find it fun to read that part in the early chapters. I still remember this part years later even though I was not much of a knitter – just a history buff – at the time.
These photos are so charming and lovely, it seems like a great place to spend some time.
What a wonderful post. The village looks very English and very quaint – like something out of a book. The shawl is very nice too.
The first thing that comes to mind is Far From the Madding Crowd. The rolling hills the manor in the background the feel of the town. Your pictures brought out the romantic in me (which is usually buried). It’s nice to see The Cotswold looks just as you would hope it would and it is a treasure without big boxes.