Lower and Upper Slaughter

Back in 1974, Marianne and I went to the Cotswolds and stopped briefly at the two little villages of Upper Slaughter and Lower Slaughter. The roads were pretty crowded as we drove down and while we had considered stopping in some of the bigger market towns such as Moreton in Marsh and Stowe on the Wold, they were so busy that parking would have been difficult.

There was no space to park in Lower Slaughter but we did manage to find a space in Upper Slaughter opposite this lovely house.

Most of the houses are made of this stone and apparently it really looks wonderful in the late afternoon of a sunny day.

We had a cup of tea and cake in the village hall.

The houses and gardens are lovely and it's a pleasure to stroll around. No doubt any house that comes on the market costs quite a few arms and legs. 

It's not obvious at first but the bush is growing on top of the roof of a shed behind the wall.

A path leads to Lower Slaughter and we decided to walk the mile or so. You can see the walk back from Lower to Upper Slaughter here.

It's very easy walking most of the way.

This little stream flows past each village. The water is quite clear and I could see some small fish darting about.

Marianne was introduced to one of the many kinds of gates that I went through on the Coast to Coast.

This impressive pile is the Lords of the Manor Hotel. No doubt, it was the home of some wealthy family at some stage. Looking at the link, I see it used to be a rectory. That must have been a very wealthy Parrish.

Yet another variety of sheep.

It was very pleasant walking even though it was about 80 degrees (27 Celsius).

I tend to walk faster than Marianne.

Since 1981 was the year they were married, I presume this is just a commemorative plaque.

The houses in Lower look a lot like the houses in Upper.

There is a mill by the stream and the wheel still works. See video below.

It's all very peaceful and beautiful, even with all the tourists. Personally I would not like to live in a place like this. There are probably several villages nearby that look almost as beautiful but are unknown to the tourist trade.

We visited the local church.

As yu can see, a very pretty church and it seemed to be in good condition.

Old grave stones.

Marianne said that the garden in the house where we are staying had these plants and she was pleased to see them here in both pre-blooming and blooming states.

We then retraced our steps back to the car at Upper Slaughter and drove home. I was glad we had driven down to see them.