With the approach of the Olympic games I thought I’d post a few photos from Britain. This week I’m all about villages. England has some gorgeous villages with pretty cottages and thatched roofs.
This is the seaside village of Mousehole in Cornwall. (pronounced Mowzel) I remember eating morning tea—a vegetable pastie and a cup of tea—in a small cafe in Mousehole. It was delicious.
The Cotswold area is full of pretty villages. They’re also over run with click happy tourists—a trade off for the locals, I guess. This is the village of Lower Slaughter.
This is a village in the Dartmoor area. The roads are narrow and you never know what you’ll find around the next corner. These ones all have thatched roofs. Very cute!
And finally Bourton on the Water is one of the prettiest Cotswolds villages in my opinion. There’s a river running through the center with tiny walking bridges so people can cross. One of the attractions in the town is this miniature village, which is an exact replica of the real one. It even has a model village within the model village.
I always think of cozy mysteries, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot and Midsummer Murders when I think of English villages. The quaint buildings hide so much crime and passion! I have a real soft spot for these books and TV shows. Maybe I’ll even write a village set romance one day—with a few bodies strewn around, naturally.
What comes to your mind when you think of villages?
Wonderful pictures and descriptions, Shelley. So idyllic (and so different from Scottish villages).
Thanks for sharing.
The Cotswold photo is just how I imagine it. Beautiful :)
I’m pinning that one!
I’m glad you liked the photo. The Cotswolds villages are very pretty.
I’ve been to Scotland a couple of times and hadn’t thought about it. You’re right though – they’re not cute or pretty at all.
Those villages look so picturesque. And from Cathie Dunn’s comment, now I wonder how Scottish villages differ.
Maria,
Scottish villages are more bare, partly due to the tougher weather. They weren’t created to look pretty, but be practical. Only in the last few years this has changed, with many participating in ‘Britain in Bloom’ events.
Although there are some lovely places, and the scenery always makes up for it. ;-)
Thanks, Cathie. I did not know that.
And I hadn’t thought about it?
Looking at these photos makes me want to read a historical romance. :) I think it’s because it looks like life in another era.
Britain has so much history that is does feel as if you’re stepping into the pages of a novel.
Oh wow, the view is just magnificent. I would love to be there and see it all.
I’d love to visit again one day. I loved living over there.
I remember a thatched roofed church on the southern shore of the Isle of Wight and a curio shoppe where we ate Devonshire tea on the same island, the harbour at Littlehampton we we ate English fish and chips for the first time (cod), and a village on the way back from Inverness that was the birth place of the Black Watch. There was another place, on Dartmoor, whose name I forget, where we ate a pub lunch and watched the stream gurgle past a dozen feet away.
I remember most the open friendliness of the people we met everywhere in the U.K.(to Hell with British reserve!) and my regret that we drove past the door of a relative we didn’t know we had until she died some years later.
Hi Amy,
My boss had an apartment in Littlehampton and we stayed there a couple of times. It was a nice town, although the beach is full of stones. I prefer our sandy beaches.
Love the pictures. I think the Cotswolds are so unique. I loved visiting the area. I’m craving afternoon tea. :)
They do have delicious afternoon teas.
I loved the photos, Shelley. Looking at them made me happy, remembering my times in England. Thanks for sharing!
Glad to be of service :)
Such beautiful places. Shelley, a visit with you could be about good fun, a good read or an adventure in pics. I love it. Thanks so much for sharing.
Thanks, Angela. I’m glad you enjoyed the photos.
What a gorgeous place… when I see quaint villages I always think they villagers are hiding some sinister… it seems too quite and peaceful:)
Tania – they definitely do in the cozy mysteries. There are bodies everywhere.
What beautiful photos. I think I would have no problem settling into a quaint English village. At any rate, would love to visit some day.