Last Thursday we felt like having a day out and decided to go to Stow-on-the-Wold. I think it was the first time we had visited the town during a weekday and what a difference it made - empty streets, very few people, calm and quiet.
It's a pretty Cotswold market town
and most buildings are made with the characteristic mellow Cotswold stone
the little green square in the middle of the town is always a pleasure to visit
there was a market on (you can see part of it on the top right hand corner of the photograph) and we browsed and bought some delicious bread
everyone seemed to be very relaxed
the village hall
lots of quaint little alleyways
an arch leading to another little alleyway
interesting shops for browsing
but also antique shops, tea shops, restaurants
Sheep Street, a busy thoroughfare usually, but not on Thursday
and then we came upon Opus on Sheep Street, a contemporary art gallery
not many places sell contemporary art in the Cotswolds so it was a pleasant surprise - a Banksy print in the window
another Banksy inside, Girl with Balloon, (apologies for the poor quality of the photograph - too much reflection)
Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup I, Onion, 1968
still on Sheep Street
I think this was an old Post Office, an interesting building
After wandering for a while it was time for lunch
the Porch House, a recent discovery, was our choice
lovely little door
a pleasant surprise was awaiting us after lunch
a wonderful double rainbow
even more impressive against the Cotswold stone.
We have not been to Stow in years, nay decades! We went often when we lived in Oxford. It is interesting to see how empty it is on a weekday - thanks for the tip! The place looks so much more lovely without lots of cars - but how true that is of most places.
ReplyDeleteIt's a real indication of how important tourism is for those towns. Stow is one of the lively ones (or so I thought) with lots of shops and always full of people. I always think of Chipping Campden as the sleepy one - I wonder what that will be like on a weekday.
DeleteAs for the cars, I totally agree Olga. It's one of the reasons why I like Amsterdam so much - a very lively city but there are whole sections of it where cars are rare.