Chipping Campden to Stanton

Before recounting the events of the day, which day was the official beginning of The Cotswald Way walk, I must tell the curious reader why one must carry a Swiss Army knife on one's person or in one's pack at all times. When one is walking through fields of barley or other grains, as we were yesterday, and one has to deal with rain gear a lot, as we also did yesterday, one could discover at a critical moment, an embedment of barley in the zipper of one's rain jacket. A finger nail may not serve to dislodge the particle and relieve the blocked mechanism, and thus the zipper is prevented from operating. It is for such a task that a blade is needed, ergo, the necessity of the knife.

Now on to the walk. This unimposing sign is to be replaced next year for one much grander, and when that is done, I hope they correct the mileage to 102 miles, because that is what it is.






After The High Street, we turned onto.....






Some sheep said good bye:






And so did some chickens:







Part of the walk was through fields of flowers, flowers as far as the eye could see. This is the first really blue sky we have experienced:






A landmark of the day was the famed Broadway Tower, which you can see in the distance. The wall top in the foreground is a definite discouragement to climbers:






The Broadway Tower had exhibits worthwhile to study, but, being in need of refreshment, we did not linger there. We did, however, see and tour a bunker that was used first during the war, manned (and later womaned), completely by volunteers, thousands of them, as a first line of defense. Their task was to watch for enemy planes or other threats. After the war, the bunkers were used, again by volunteers, in a nuclear threat capacity. (That sentence doesn't sound right, but I am kind of tired now, so to heck with the grammar and no more details about that; it would be worth looking it up, though, if you care to.) There were bunkers every ten miles, but now only a few have not been destroyed.


Anyway, the one at Broadway Tower has recently been opened to the public, and we were lucky enough to be there on a day when one could take a tour. I got to power up the siren! You turn this great big crank and it starts to sound just like an air raid siren--very loud. Then the guide took me down. (Wendy took the photos--she did not like the look of the ladder.)







One should always wear a hat when descending into a bunker:






It was very moving to see the conditions (bad) in which the volunteers served their 24 hour shifts and to learn about the work they did.  Two could sleep on paper-thin mattresses while two were on duty. There were many radios for keeping in touch with various commands, and equipment for performing other tasks. There was one small vent to the outside for air. Food was tinned rations. The toilet facility I will not even tell you about. What is so shameful is that these volunteers—those who served during and after the war—were never given any formal recognition.

Now back to the walk. There were bridges:







and more fields of flowers:







After about fourteen plus miles we got to Stanton, a beautiful little village. I can't even describe the exquisiteness. But here are some samples. A wrought iron gate decorated with brass flowers:





Oh--in Broadway, a very up-scale town, we visited an art gallery, which had a sculpture garden:






This sculpture, not so great:






How pretty is this?






And this grand approach and door?






Clouds threatened, but the day was dry:






Can't resist these houses, either with their slate roofs:







or thatch:







Not to mention the steps with flowers growing in between:






Just one more garden:






and a view through an arch:





One of two planters in by a doorway:





Our accommodations were nowhere near as luxurious as those in Chipping Campden, but we had a special sink for washing our muddy gators and a heated towel rack for drying all our other laundry, both very nice features. It was a lovely day!

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