has waned, the church buildings are used for a potpourri of community, cultural, and interfaith purposes. A survey in 2003 revealed that 86 percent of the countryâs population had visited a church building or place of worship during the previous twelve months. So whether itâs a concert, a lecture on African pythons, or finding some quiet time, these wonderful historic buildings are still much used and obviously cherished. Churches that have been completely abandoned are cared for by the Redundant Churches Fund.
The
Guide
advises that we are now overlapping with the Jurassic Way, an 88-mile footpath that runs from Stamford to Banbury. The Way commemorates the rock formations that run in a southwestânortheast direction from the English Channel in Dorset to the Humber in Yorkshire. The limestone belt actually began for us at Kates Bridge. The closer to the heart of the Cotswolds we travel, the more the quality of the stone improves, until it attains the rich golden hue so characteristic of storybook villages like Bourton-on-the-Water and Lower Slaughter.
During the Jurassic period of geological time, the portion of central England we are walking was covered with a shallow, warm sea. This followed a lengthy era when Britain was a sandy desert much like Arizona or Mongolia today. In a cataclysm of events, this desert was transformed from a dry wasteland to a watery environment teeming with life. Ammonites, brachiopods, plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, oysters, birds, and other species that crawled out of the ocean all died in vast numbers over the millennia, and left their bones behind. These became embedded in soft clays and limestones, some of which became fossils.
This Jurassic rock strata was discovered and named by William Smith, a countryman who spent his life exploring subterranean England. Smith produced the first geological map of the country in 1815. That map was a harbinger of the change that was to come to the accepted order of things. It was clear from the rock strata that the Earth was more than a few thousand years old. Charles Darwin published his theories on evolution later in the century. The literal Biblical view of creation was no longer credible.
We cross the lovely Collyweston Bridge over the River Welland to enter the county of Rutland. Rutland is the smallest county in England, though from 1974 to 1997 it was part of Leicestershire. When Parliament merged Rutland into Leicestershire in 1974 following a committeeâs review, Rutlanders conducted a Gandhi-like protest of civil disobedience, continuing to make out their property tax cheques to âRutland County.â The government ultimately bowed to this smouldering rebellion and restored Rutland to full county status in 1997.
Rutland has the highest average family birth rate of any English county: 2.81 children, compared with only 1.67 in Tyne and Wear. It also has a fine reputation for physical fitness. I donât know if this makes a case or not for the more physically fit being more sexually active. Rutland has also been placed at the top of the heap by statisticians as being the most contented county in England. So: happiness, fertility, and fitness â Rutland comes out on top. It is noteworthy that the county is composed of only two major towns, many small villages, and numerous farms. So: minimal pollution and a healthy rural lifestyle. Could Rutland be the model for the healthiest form of community in the twenty-first century?
Our route takes us through several wet barley fields and then over a footbridge to cross the River Chater. We are entering the village of Ketton. Cement works here employ some 220 people and supply the United Kingdom with one-tenth of its Portland cement. The local limestone quarries also produce Ketton stone, which was used to build several Cambridge colleges. We see giant dump trucks and excavators working quarries in the distance, like big Dinky toys.
We are now just a short distance from
The
Guide
advises that we are now overlapping with the Jurassic Way, an 88-mile footpath that runs from Stamford to Banbury. The Way commemorates the rock formations that run in a southwestânortheast direction from the English Channel in Dorset to the Humber in Yorkshire. The limestone belt actually began for us at Kates Bridge. The closer to the heart of the Cotswolds we travel, the more the quality of the stone improves, until it attains the rich golden hue so characteristic of storybook villages like Bourton-on-the-Water and Lower Slaughter.
During the Jurassic period of geological time, the portion of central England we are walking was covered with a shallow, warm sea. This followed a lengthy era when Britain was a sandy desert much like Arizona or Mongolia today. In a cataclysm of events, this desert was transformed from a dry wasteland to a watery environment teeming with life. Ammonites, brachiopods, plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, oysters, birds, and other species that crawled out of the ocean all died in vast numbers over the millennia, and left their bones behind. These became embedded in soft clays and limestones, some of which became fossils.
This Jurassic rock strata was discovered and named by William Smith, a countryman who spent his life exploring subterranean England. Smith produced the first geological map of the country in 1815. That map was a harbinger of the change that was to come to the accepted order of things. It was clear from the rock strata that the Earth was more than a few thousand years old. Charles Darwin published his theories on evolution later in the century. The literal Biblical view of creation was no longer credible.
We cross the lovely Collyweston Bridge over the River Welland to enter the county of Rutland. Rutland is the smallest county in England, though from 1974 to 1997 it was part of Leicestershire. When Parliament merged Rutland into Leicestershire in 1974 following a committeeâs review, Rutlanders conducted a Gandhi-like protest of civil disobedience, continuing to make out their property tax cheques to âRutland County.â The government ultimately bowed to this smouldering rebellion and restored Rutland to full county status in 1997.
Rutland has the highest average family birth rate of any English county: 2.81 children, compared with only 1.67 in Tyne and Wear. It also has a fine reputation for physical fitness. I donât know if this makes a case or not for the more physically fit being more sexually active. Rutland has also been placed at the top of the heap by statisticians as being the most contented county in England. So: happiness, fertility, and fitness â Rutland comes out on top. It is noteworthy that the county is composed of only two major towns, many small villages, and numerous farms. So: minimal pollution and a healthy rural lifestyle. Could Rutland be the model for the healthiest form of community in the twenty-first century?
Our route takes us through several wet barley fields and then over a footbridge to cross the River Chater. We are entering the village of Ketton. Cement works here employ some 220 people and supply the United Kingdom with one-tenth of its Portland cement. The local limestone quarries also produce Ketton stone, which was used to build several Cambridge colleges. We see giant dump trucks and excavators working quarries in the distance, like big Dinky toys.
We are now just a short distance from
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