Tuesday 16 March 2010

Where's That Then? No 16

This is one of England's most photographed villages. But almost never from this angle. That's because, as you can see, the sun's in the wrong place to give the traditional chocolate box kind of view. Which is why I like it. We stayed here once with my parents and our Border Collie called Newky, much loved by my father who would stand at the cottage gate every morning with her chatting to passers-by. (That's my dad talking, not the dog. Although in our family...) "Newky?" I hear you say over your Weetabix. For some unfathomable reason us young uns in the mid 1970s named our pets after the beer we drank in our respective villages. There were dogs called Barnsley (a defunct northern bitter taken over by Courage I think), Guinness, Ruddles and Newcastle Brown, which was a hopelessly impractical name for a dog that quickly got edited down to its bar room shorthand. I think there was an Adnam somewhere.

8 comments:

Diplomate said...

Quick response to beat the rush would be one of the Slaughters, possibly Lower - can't remember.............

Majorwheels said...

Gosh, you have to be up early these days! - yes I agree with Diplo, Lower Slaughter. On the bus front, Guide Friday used to run a nice tour around these parts using an ex Maidstone & District 1946 open top AEC Regal HKL 836.

Peter Ashley said...

Champion Diplo. It is indeed Lower Slaughter. For Panavision views of Upper Slaughter see Tony Richardson's 1977 film Joseph Andrews.

Majorwheels, you have sent me into silent reverie thinking about the AEC Regal. Commentator Combo must be having a cold shower, if he's up yet.

David Gouldstone said...

Lower Slaughter also features prominently in the Ealingesque 1944film 'Tawny Pipit', which is very hard to find but, while no masterpiece, certainly worth the search. It's a comedy-thriller-romance (as Polonius might have said) about bird-watching, made in the same year as the in many ways similar 'A Canterbury Tale', which is of course an undisputed masterpiece.

Ron Combo said...

That's me spent.

TIW said...

'Theakston' would be a perfect name for a dog.

Peter Ashley said...

Hello Sue. Welcome to Unmitigated England! Thankyou for buying my books, that's very kind of you. And I wholeheartedly agree with you about A Canterbury Tale, which is very high on my list too.

E J Moore said...

It's interesting to compare Tawny Pipit and A Canterbury Tale, as they are quite similar in several ways. But TP does look very pedestrian against the masterpiece that is A Canterbury Tale - no magic.