A HORSE’S tail flicks above the wall of Minchinhampton Common as the car crawls by in the evening sun, the speed restriction of 30mph leaving the evening grazing uninterrupted. My windows are down and, at this quiet pace, the sounds of the sheep and chickens hidden behind the walls of the common escape over the top, as if to emphasise their agricultural necessity.
Driving the Cotswolds is one of the greatest pleasures of the English countryside because, sitting silently in among the hills and towns, the villages and views, a constant source of outstanding beauty is keeping me company—4,000 miles of dry-stone walls. They may date back to the Stone Age, but it was the farmers of the 18th and 19th centuries who used the area’s abundance of natural material to build the walls we see today.
Minchinhampton’s hilltop common sets the scene for the landscape of the high Cotswolds; a quiet town of mellow, blonde stone leading out onto a vast grassland with views over the surrounding valleys. The stone journeys in colour from white gold to dappled ashen brown, some pieces fat and ragged, others inch-thin and sleek to touch. The farm walls on the common are finished in cock-and-hen style, with stones placed vertically on top, whereas garden walls often have flat stone finishes or even smooth cement caps.
Minchinhampton’s church rises across the far side of the common, a far-away continuation of the walls. In the shade of the trees and walls, a donkey is enjoying being petted by a family out for a stroll. As the common widens, traffic jams pile up as cows amble leisurely into the road, crossing to the literally greener grass on the other side. For the animals lucky enough to graze this part, the walls act only as a reassuring presence in the distance, never as a confinement; the barriers are neither tall nor strong enough to stop even the laziest escapee. These walls are the darkest grey of weathered stone.
Denne historien er fra July 01, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra July 01, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds