Bourton-on-the-Water: A River Runs Through It

Bourton-on-the-Water: A River Runs Through It
15 July 2000

Location	Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, walk 25 in the OS pathfinder guide to the Cotswolds. I followed the walk as it is laid out in the book: from Bourton to Lower Slaughter, then Upper Slaughter and Naunton. The return followed the River Windrush. All in all that's 10 miles.

Weather	Again, it was partly cloudy but warm and slightly humid. This time it was also a bit windy.
Click on the images to see larger versions.

	A gargoyle on the church tower in Lower Slaughter. See how well camouflaged it is in its natural habitat. It's exactly the same colour as the stone it perches on.

It is only when seen against the sky like this that it stands out clearly.

	The village well in Lower Slaughter has lost its function as water giver and now serves only as decoration.

There is a lot of beautiful hardware to be found in the Cotswolds. This example of leaded windows with a decorative frieze that holds mosquito netting is in someone's bathroom in Upper Slaughter.

	The first bit of the path between Upper Slaughter and Naunton follows the river Eye.

Later on the path climbs high up on a ridge. The blue crop in the foreground is lavender. I had expected the air to be sweetly scented but it wasn't. Maybe if I come back when it rains.

	An oak near a gate on the path.

I also found this wellarmed thistle. I wonder what William Morris would make of it. A swirling tile? A fabric in green and purple?

	In Naunton there was more homemade hardware. This gate is one example. The arrowhead points prevent people from climbing in but the inturned end verticals don't snag on your clothes when you go through.

Naunton had an unpretentious village pump. On the whole it was much less touristy than Upper and Lower Slaughter. It was also virtually deserted.

	After the climb out of Naunton I looked back.

The trail set out in the guidebook had a lot of ups and downs. In a valley between Naunton and Bourton I found this very simple bridge. It's just a slab of Cotswold stone.

	There's a ford over the Windrush by Lower Harford. Like all fords I've come across so far, it has a footbridge next to it. This is the impression of the river that the footbridge gives when the light is fading on an evening in July.

Further on this river view could have been painted by Gainsborough.

	A gem grew by the river. It's monkey flower, Mimulus.

Once back in Bourton the river still had me in its thrall. This is the bridge that Fosse Way passes over.

	Someone had planted lillies on the banks of the Windrush in Bourton. The last rays of the sun pick them out.

Bourton was full of bridges. This was one of the smaller ones. It is only one duck high and seems to be designed more to keep trespassing boats out than for use as a bridge.

	A final picture after I had wrested myself away from the river. It's another gate that fits perfectly into its surroundings of mellow, yellow Cotswold stone.