Today's walk started at the hobbit-sized village hall in Edgeworth in the south Cotswolds, north of Cirencester. The area has been inhabited for a long time -- there's a long barrow not far from it and some tumuli. Looking at the map, there are uncommonly many Scandinavian place names north of Cirencester. Daneway and Frith Wood come to mind and in Edgeworth there were several house names starting with Rokeby.

In a wall a postbox from George V's reign (1910–1936) had been placed. You can see some of the Royal-Mail-red paint has dripped onto the stones, mingling with the moss, ivy and lichen.

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Going down a steep slope, I was accompanied by this brook. You can see that it was in beech woods and that the stone here is typical Cotswold limestone.

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I was quite taken with how the brook cascaded down its little streambed. Here it's passing some moss-covered rocks, splashing and spraying merrily all the way.

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The little brook eventually joined the larger stream on the right of this picture. I'm not quite as fond of this photo. In its lack of strong, primary focus it is rather old-fashioned. It's more about setting a mood than about grabbing the viewer's attention. If you're into this sort of thing, it's probably something you like to gaze upon for quite some time, imagining the sound of the stream, the crows wheeling above, sheep baahing in the distance. But if you're not, you probably move on abruptly.

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My walk ended at the church in Edgeworth. It's a Norman church, started in the 11th century, with a slightly later porch. There are many old gravestones in the churchyard, including at least one with a skull on. There's also a picturesque Victorian lychgate on the valley side. Inside there are many brasses but they're not terribly exciting. The atmosphere, on the other hand, was lovely. Very contemplative with the afternoon light through the stained glass in the south-facing windows. I stayed a while.

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Tags: cotswolds