Our final day on the CotswoldWay, day number five, was short but had two highlights: The Broadway Tower and an apparent mutiny among a herd of sheep.
The Broadway Tower
The Broadway Tower was actually built by an English Earl as a token love for his wife who wondered if a tower built on this escarpment would be visible from their home twenty miles away. I’m glad Laurie has much lower expectations for her gifts. It came into the current family when a husband bought it for his wife, also as a token of love. It is also a popular place to get engaged.
This “Tower of Love” is what the English call a “folly” which is basically a structure built that has no truly useful purpose. It was popular to build ruins or impractical structures like this for occasional use. In the present day it is a striking tourist attraction—and the highest point in the Cotswolds when you climb to the top.
The Mutton Mutiny
Shortly after descending from the tower we came upon the gate for a sheep pasture with a number of agitated sheep seemingly waiting for us to let them out. A cacophony of bleating made it clear something was going on: loose dogs, wolves, or a mutiny of the flock? It only got louder as we walked through the pasture as you can tell from the short video below.
Turns out that it is sheep shearing season, and they are about as thrilled as a two year old boy to have their hair cut. And they made quite a ruckus about it.
Our hike today ended in our current home base of Chipping Campden, which is one of the two endpoints of the Cotswold Way; the other being just over 100 miles away in Bath. More hiking to go, but not on the Cotswold Way.
Click here or on the photo to the left to enjoy Laurie’s video of our last day on the Cotswolds Way.
Painted Sheep?
I posed a question in our last post about the paint marks on the sheep. Had one guess, but not the correct answer. Turns out that shepherds will leave paint marks (as in the one below) to indicated ownership, vaccinations, breeding status, or even if a ewe is carrying one or two lambs. The ownership mark is kind of like a brand (which wouldn’t work well on these wooly creatures) when the flocks are grazing in shared land.
