When I called Lords of the Manor to book the table, the French voice on the phone tactfully suggested that jeans and trainers would be inappropriate for the dining room. I couldn't agree more I'm so over jeans and trainers. A dress code that might have come across as incredibly square a year ago, suddenly sounded quite hip.
Lords of the Manor is the restaurant in the hotel of the same name in the village of Upper Slaughter, near Stow-on-the-Wold. It's the quintessence of Cotswold..........
PAINSWICK, England -- The main road through this picturesque village says a great deal about the timeless quality of the Cotswolds, a region of low, rolling hills in England's West Country.
A vision of tranquil English village life, the street is lined with charming, centuries-old stone houses and a half-timbered post office that dates from the Middle Ages........
But, as food preferences evolve, Britains great puddings, even the sweet variety, were being overlooked in favor of Black Forest cake and strawberry cheesecake. In 1985, to preserve this important piece of culinary heritage, Three Ways House Hotel, a historic hotel in the low hills called the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, 90 miles from London in southwest England, established the Pudding Club. The goal: to preserve the pudding from drifting into obscurity.......
What turned out to be one of our 'funnest' trip in years, unfortunately started out in a very stressful manner. But that's life. So let me tell you how it all began:
My partner Dianne Marie and I arrived at Heathrow Airport outside London, some 13 hours after leaving San Francisco. We immediately rented a car and attempted to drive to The Cotswolds. Yes, I said "attempted," because it took us forever to get there.
ED JONES is editor of The Free Lance-Star. He can be reached at 540/374-5401 or at edjones@freelancestar.com.
GLANCE AT THE stone walls inside the little old church in Sherborne, England, and you'll notice a roster of vicars who have graced the pulpit there. The list goes back 900 years.
But it was a reference of more recent vintage that caught my eye last week as I strolled around the sanctuary. A needlepoint pad for kneeling worshippers offered a simple but touching message: "God bless America. Stand beside her, and guide her. September 11, 2001."
That evening, as my wife, Peggy, and I were watching the BBC news in our rented cottage in the Cotswolds, 75 miles west of London, we heard about a survey that found that most Britons think it's time to put distance between their country and the United States in the war on terrorism.
Those sentiments surfaced as newspapers and TV reporters swarmed around the Labor Party infighting that forced Prime Minister Tony Blair, George W. Bush's most loyal and articulate ally in the post-9/11 period, to promise to step down from office within the next year. Blair, the fresh, boyish leader of the Brits a decade ago, has become stale..........
ED JONES is editor of The Free Lance-Star. He can be reached at 540/374-5401 or at edjones@freelancestar.com
I'M NOT PROUD of it, but I might as well confess. I recently purchased my very own copy of "British History for Dummies."
Now granted, there are many areas of expertise in which I would quickly qualify as a dummy. Plumbing and cooking are two that come to mind.
But being a dummy on British history hurts.
After all, I took a course on the Tudors in college. I subscribe to The Spectator, a weekly opinion journal from Britain that keeps me on top of politics across the pond.
I once had an electronic subscription to The Times of London. I still read an array of newspapers and magazines about the Church of England.
But as my wife, Peggy, and I prepare for a short trip to the Cotswolds, that rolling slice of England three hours west of London, I still feel like a dummy............
The Royal Shakespeare Company will prove that's true.
The troupe is sponsoring a yearlong festival at Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare's hometown, at which all of the Bard's 37 plays plus his sonnets and long poems will be performed.
It will be the first time that all of the works will be presented in a single event.
The festival will open on Shakespeare's birthday, April 23, and continue into April 2007..............
After spending the better part of last month in England, walking along the River Thames, a few random observations (mostly ecologically inspired) seem in order this week. So, with a tip of the hat to author Bill Bryson, who was encountered out there in a Cotswold field, here are some of my own "notes from a long, long river.".......
ARTICLES BY RALPH GREEN FORMER ASSISTANT AT THE VISITOR INFORMATION CENTRE STOW-ON-THE-WOLD
The gypsy horse fair attracts hundreds of sightseers to Stow twice a year. Gipsies gather from all corners of England for a meet and greet and hundreds of horses are paraded and sold, all in one day. It's quite a site! So how did it all begin and why Stow-on-the-Wold. As you might expect, when dealing with a Cotswold tradition, you have to go back a very long way.
The Abbey of Evesham had obtained the Manor of Stow in 714 AD and their responsibility to the settlement was not only spiritual but also economic. Because of Stow's unique position at the convergence of eight trackways, it developed a capacity for trade. Travelers and traders from Wales and the west, from the Midlands and the Thames Valley would pass this way as would the carriers of salt from Worcestershire, fish from the Seven estuary and iron and charcoal from the Forest of Dean, all on their way to markets where they could sell or exchange their goods. Stow was able to provide foods, shelter and stabling and because it was producing a surplus of farm produce could sell to the travelers. Stow was also able to sell the products of what we now call rural crafts such as weaving and spinning, pottery, saddlery and harness making. A regular exchange of goods took place and kind of informal market developed. After the Norman Conquest, contacts between England and the continent expanded via agents based in London and Stow was now within reach of travelers bringing more exotic goods such as silk and spices.
The Normans were quick to encourage the creation of markets on Manor land as this ensured an outlet for surplus goods from the estates, and brought in a steady income. After the 11th century, there was a marked increase in urban development because of an acceptance of a more structured approach to trade and marketing. So, when the abbot of Evesham appealed to Henry 1 in 1107 for official recognition of the market in Stow it was readily granted. The charter gave the abbot and the people of Stow the right to hold their market every Thursday in the square, and to fix a payment for those who wished to use it. Over time, additions and concessions were acquired from the king so that Stow gained considerable status over other towns in the Cotswolds. A market cross was erected as a symbol to people that they could do business safely and honestly. It's interesting to note that this market continued for 800 years, only ceasing about 1900.
The picture is of the Market Cross in the market square at Stow-on-the-Wold
In 1476 the abbot petitioned for a charter for two fairs, the first in May and the second in October. The charters were granted for May 12th, the feast of Saints Philip and James and the October 24th the feast of St. Edward the Confessor and these dates are still used today to decide the gipsy horse fair.
The main source of wealth in the Cotswolds was wool and by holding two fairs a year in Stow it allowed people in the surrounding hills to bring their sheep to be sold. Flocks would be driven to the perimeter of the town in the days leading up to the fair and then, it is said, driven to the square down the narrow alleyways we call 'tures' that radiate out in all directions from the town centre. These alleyways offered a good way to manage the sheep and it was once noted that 20,000 were sold on a good day. The fairs were also a public holiday and people would travel in to Stow to see what goods the Italian, French and Flemish traders had to sell. The foreign goods must have attracted great interest among Cotswold folk, there were dates and figs, olive oil, sugar and almonds, ginger, pepper and cloves. There were carpets, tapestries and soap, damask, taffeta and lace. Horses were imported from Ireland and this would change the character of the fair in later centuries. Adding to the colour would be jugglers, tumblers, and musicians playing fiddles and flutes. This was a major occasion and it drew in people from every strata of society, from labourers to bishops. In fact, there were many monastic buyers from the six monasteries within 35 miles of Stow. The town grew to provide the accommodation, food and stabling for the gowning numbers and it was able to offer the services of blacksmiths and wheelwrights. Tradition says that every house in the square was turned into an alehouse during the fair.
Stow fair became one of the largest in the country and it's influence showed itself in the way farmers made their plans for buying and selling livestock and the agreements they reached when hiring workers. A term of employment for farm labourers and domestic workers was based on the dates of the fair. In one village, no horse was sold until after Stow fair, in another village nearby, all lambs became sheep on Stow fair day and even my father-in-law never planted his runner beans until after Stow fair.
As the importance of sheep declined in the Cotswolds the character of the fair slowly changed and it became a horse fair favoured by farmers, huntsmen, professional horse dealers and gipsies. In recent years the fun fair stopped visiting the town and the horse sales involving the farmers and dealers split from the traveling people and moved to Andoversford, about 6 miles to the east of Cheltenham. So now, we are left with the gipsy horse fair, one of the biggest gatherings of its kind in England. As many arrive in traditional horse drawn caravans, it as become popular with photographers, artists, and the public who don't want to miss the atmosphere of such a colourful event.
As I said earlier, the charter granted over 500 years ago, still decide the dates of the fairs; the gypsies always come to Stow-on-the-Wold on the nearest Thursday to May 12th and October 24th. Often it's easy to see which Thursday that will be after checking the calendar, but sometimes it could be the Thursday before or after the charter day, so if in doubt, give us a call at the Visitor Information Centre and we will try to help.
