Stephanie's Musings on the Cotswolds

Fairy taled buildings in the Cotswolds
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June 28, 2006

Visiting the Cotswolds is a new and historical experience, especially if your mom turns your nice quiet trip into an audio radio for every single thing that you see. There was much to learn, and my mom made sure we learned it.

One thing that I learned was that this area has many old and famous buildings. The buildings that are hundreds of years old make you wonder when they’ll fall down, or spring a leak, however, I’m realizing that things were built to last back then. We visited places like Stradford-upon-Avon and Bibury which had quaint, old, houses that make them look like they are straight out a story book. We saw Shakespeare’s birth place, and where he died. The houses of this area are beautiful.

Example of dry stacked rock walls
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Another thing I learned was that the stone walls, which are made out of dry flint stones, are quite amazing. Who would think that rocks stacked upon one another could make a wall strong enough to stand for thousands of years. Small rocks that are about the size of a book are what the wall is made out of. Pulling out a piece of this type of wall would not make it fall down. For each rock is supported by about 2 or 3 other rocks. Now a day, we need to use mortar or cement or some strong mixture to hold things together while the older generations found ways to stick things together without anything spread in between. It’s like a puzzle with the perfect place for each rock. One of the things that the Cotswold is famous for is all the stone items that the people of this region make.

Bah bah black sheep...
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The thing I liked best here was the sheep. As you might know, I have always loved sheep, and the sheep and cattle dot the hills like stars in the skies. Many of the houses have thatched roofs with cattle and sheep grazing in the surrounding fields of the rolling hills. In fact, the word Cotswolds means sheep enclosure and rolling hills. Surprisingly, the sheep are quite the nervous nellies, when you go up to them. They flounce away, but then continue their grazing a couple steps further away from you. Sheep and lambs are very cute, but are also quite smelly!!

William Shakespeare's birthplace
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A Limerick poem I wrote about the Cotswolds:

The Cotswolds

Driving around the rolling hills,

The diesel adding to our bills,

But oh, those cute little sheep,

How I wish they were mine to keep,

The B and B’s in the Cotswold had lots of frills,

And visiting this countryside provided us with lots of thrills!!

In summary, the Cotswolds was neat place to visit. The interesting buildings, the famous people that have lived here, the beautiful countryside, and the many sheep are all things that made these few days here special. I hope you enjoyed my summary. As my principal always said, “Either like it, or pretend to like it.”

This summary was done by Stephanie Cheng