We stopped into the Cotswold Woolen Weavers studio in Filkins. The weavers no longer work here - they are all now up in Yorkshire but samples of the woollen tweeds are sent down here for sale. It is a shrinking industry. Sheering lambs alone costs more than the wool is worth. But run your hands over the woollen fabrics and you know we are losing something.
After the weaving studio, we stopped at Chipping Norton and wandered through the town. Nothing special but we are now realizing the common threads of the towns in the Cotswolds. Most have a High Street, a Church Street or Lane and a Sheep Street. Many have a Lamb or Sheep Hotel, all have a huge church with graveyards full of leaning, lichen-covered, centuries-old gravestones. Many have a Red Lion but all have a few pubs on High Street. The buildings are made of the golden Cotswold Stone and have slate roofs. Many have wisteria growing over the door. The streets are narrow unless it is a market town in which case the High Street is wide. The streets are lined with shops and from what we’ve observed, the owners are desperate for hired help. Signs in most windows. But the homes are expensive - what staff could afford to live there? The towns were not built for cars. It is the wild west when it comes to cars and the narrow roads. Parking rules are vague, even to the locals. Most cars seem to disappear over night - lots of "locals" don't actually live in the town but drive from somewhere else.
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| Classic Cotswold Sheep |
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