We were in England for the wedding of the daughter of some dear friends. It took place in a small parish church atop the Malvern Hills, where you could see Wales to the west, and the area leading to The Cotswolds to the east.
After our stay for the wedding, we went exploring, ending up eventually near the Salisbury plain, and Stonehenge.
But first, I had heard about a place I wanted to check out, the town of Shaftesbury. Shaftesbury is best known for Gold Hill, a picturesque cobbled street made famous by a popular Hovis bread advertisement broadcast in the 70’s. You can now find it on YouTube. Each year visitors flock to photograph this beautiful vantage point, which offers views of quaint, thatched cottages and the Blackmore Vale in the distance.
So there we were at the oft photographed site, Gold Hill. Picturesque would be an understatement. As luck would have it, the afternoon light was perfect, raking across the thatched roof cottages from the southwest. It was like something out of a fairy tale. But one thing was missing, and that was a human figure, for interest and scale.
Within minutes, a young couple came by, and as they got to my position I offered them £5 if they would go down, and walk up the hill for the photo. They gladly accepted, and I got my image.
To me this is a quintessential British scene. I always say that if you look up the word ‘quaint’ in the dictionary, there will be a photo of The Cotswolds.
But Gold Hill is right up there. I hope you agree.
