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Long Compton from the south - the lay of the land
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August is not a good month to be in Houston. The summer weather patterns (heat and humidity) conspire together with the risk of tropical storms and hurricanes (Alicia is engraved on my memory) to pose the question "Why do I live here?"
So it was that, with a little prompting from April, already in England, that I booked an airmiles ticket with Continental Airlines to London on August 9, 2000, arriving at London Gatwick on time the next morning. April was there to meet me and we drove the two and half hours journey to Long Compton, joining the M25 rush hour for part of the way. |
| The temperature was about 25 degrees lower than Houston, but just about as humid. However, this doesn't matter too much as it doesn't feel at all uncomfortable. Weather promised to be "variable", a wonderful grab bag term that excuses the prognostications of the rather clueless meteorologists that adorn British television (and their graphics are even worse!) |  |
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In 2000, Long Compton was our home away from home (we no longer live there, by the way!) Actually I am sure April would reverse this statement and say that Houston was home away from home. But that's the fun of having two nationalities living under the same two roofs! Unlike Houston, Long Compton is a small village with a population of less than one thousand. It is located at the southern tip of the county of Warwickshire (a.k.a. Shakespeare Country) but in many ways it is more representative of the Cotswolds. This will be explained in the paragraphs that follow. |
| The village is indeed as long as its name suggests because it clings to the main road that connects Oxford to Stratford-on-Avon. In the days before heavy goods vehicles it made sense to live alongside the main road, so the villagers simply expanded north and south for about a mile along Main Street (an unusual street name in England). By 1980 the main road had created intolerable traffic problems as the road at that time was the main conduit from the industrial north and midlands to the port of Southampton. It was then the A34 trunk road. By building the M40 motorway to the east, it was possible to "de-trunk" the A34 to the A3400 and encourage heavy traffic to take a much faster route. Today Long Compton doesn't have heavy traffic but speeding over the 30 mile an hour limit is an ongoing problem. |  |
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The older buildings in the village include the Parish Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul which dates from the Thirteenth Century. Most of the older buildings however are no older than 17th and 18th Century. During the 19th Century the village acquired a simple water supply system, with several "Drinking Fountains" (actually they were more like simple standpipes) located along the roadside. Some of these still remain and older villagers remember "having to fetch water on Sundays so that Mother could do the laundry early on Monday morning." |
| Post World War II construction included some structures that do not conform well to the village's style, but fortunately these are largely hidden from view. Recent development has been in keeping with the guidelines explained in the Long Compton "Village Design Statement" and our cottage is typical of this phase of the village's growth. There is an inevitable trend toward change in the demographics of the village as the rural economy shrinks while easy access to London, Oxford and Birmingham means that more and more people are using the village as a dormitory or weekend retreat. The bottom line for this is not necessarily bad, but two negative observations are worth mentioning. First is that local farm workers can no longer afford housing. Second, many of those who use the village as a weekend retreat don't actually join the community. (Before anyone says :"what about you?" may I defend my position in that I was born and raised in the same county and therefore "came back home!") |
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Well, enough of social history, though more will inevitably unfold in the paragraphs and pictures that follow. How about a tour around the village and some encounters with its inhabitants? The village nestles in a valley surrounded by low hills. These are formed of the Jurassic Oolitic Limestone that gives the region its famous Cotswold building stone, a honey colored limestone that weathers to grey as it matures. Much of the stone used to construct the village was quarried locally in small excavations up on the hillsides around about. |
| One of the best views is from the north, on the road to Whichford. We set up the tripod there on several occasions, including a fabulous dawn when the sun gradually rose up and shed its slanting rays across the valley. The village church dominates this scene which also stresses the linear nature of the village. On the far side of the village is another hillside which contains the megalithic remains collectively called the Rollright Stones (more of which later). |  |
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Agriculture is the mainstay of village life. Farming is mixed, though at one time sheep rearing dominated. Today the fields contain sheep, cattle, pigs and wheat, while some areas are dedicated to soft fruits. Farming is not an easy occupation in this day and age of European politics and bureaucracy. |
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Cotswold sheep are the reason for the area's prosperity during the 16th and 17th Centuries. The magnificent churches and solid stone buildings remain as a testament to this period. Wool declined in value as cotton became king and this left the Cotswolds in a state of suspended animation that even the Industrial revolution could not change. |  |
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In addition to the sheep, the area has its share of other interesting farm animals, including the Oxfordshire Sandy and Black pig and variant of the Longhorn: |  |
| A more domesticated resident is Charlie, our neighbor's cat. |  |
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