It is to be regretted that the formal lines of telegraph and telephone
poles and wires have vulgarized so many of our beautiful roads, and
destroyed their retired and venerable expression; more especially as
in many places these were erected against the will of the inhabitants,
and under the mistaken idea that the farmer's business is retail, and
that he is prepared to deal in and deliver small quantities of goods
daily, receiving urgent orders and enquiries by telephone.
The villages in the Vale of Evesham and the Cotswolds afford an
excellent illustration of building in harmony with surroundings, and
the suitability of making use of local materials. Thus, in the Vale we
find mellow old brick, has limestone, half timber and thatch; while on
the Cotswolds, oolite freestone and "stone slates" of the same
freestone seem the only suitable material. Where the ugly pink bricks
and blue slates have of late years been introduced, they appear out of
place and contemptible. There is an immense charm about these old
villages of hill and vale, and it is curious to think that Aldington
was an established community with, probably, as many inhabitants as at
the present day, when London and Westminster were divided by green
fields.
A story is told of the time before the line to Oxford from
Wolverhampton and Worcester was built, when persons visiting Oxford
from the Vale of Evesham had to travel by road.
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