working week

These photographs were not all taken the same day but I have put them in the order that they occur during the round. Some are 'typical' postie job images and some are just things I found interesting. My round this week has been through Little Compton, Chastleton and Barton on the Heath.

First one had to be a dog really didn't it. They punctuate my day; the merely noisy (like this one), the enthusastic biscuit lovers (but I am not a biscuit giver so they are sorely disappointed), the indifferent and the downright nasty.
I stopped in the woods because on Monday a buzzard swooped down amongst the trees in front of the van and I hoped to see it again, but alas, having seen several this week I have been unable to get a picture. I like the fact it looks so dense and impenetrable.

This one is the 'historical interest' photo. It is of the Four Shires Stone. It stands about a mile outside Moreton in Marsh and is unique to us. It marks the only point in the country where four counties meet at a corner. The counties are: Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, though in fact the counties no longer meet at this point due to boundary changes. One theory concerning the name 'Moreton in Marsh' is that it was originally 'Moreton in Mark' i.e. the marking point for the meeting of the counties, but there are no doubt many differing opinions on this subject (though there is definitely no 'marsh' here and even more definitely no 'the' in the town's name.)

Another postie picture, this is a King George post box in Little Compton. There are still some from Queen Victoria's time but they are very unusual.
Gorgeous roses, that strangely seem to have two different colours on the same bush.
Because of the rather overcast lighting I found this guard goose somewhat menacing.
At the weekend this lovely thatched cottage was totally gutted. Fortunately no-one was injured but it took the firemen two days to damp it down. Amazingly the thatch on the porch seems to have survived intact!
And this morning these nice men laid a new road surface ... just for me.
I have never had occasion to drive down this road (the farm has an old metal box by the gate) so have not had to brave the dangers awaiting me around the blind corners.
My favourite kind of dog ... made of china ... but pretty life like before the plants started to take over, he did stop me in my tracks the first time I called there.
And so back to yarn:-) Three alpacas in a field on the edge of Barton.

Back in Moreton for my final photo. This is the St David's Centre (it used to be the school and is now a community centre). It is remarkable because this is how it was redesigned after the flood damage in 2007. The first time I walked past after they put up this lovely glass entrance I was absolutely gobsmacked that Cotswold District Council would allow them to build something not clad in cotswold stone. I find it depressing that the obsessive need that the planners seem to have for any new construction to 'blend in' with the existing buildings means that there is absolutely no variety in our built environment. This extension to the original schoolhouse is just so refreshing and I love it.