Two Homes Away From Home: Chipping Campden & Handcross

TWO HOMES Away From Home

Chipping Campden

&

Handcross
Royal Oak Fellowship

June, July, August 2010

During my time in the UK, I have had two "homes" 

Nymans in the Village of Handcross

and

Hidcote in the town of Chipping Campden

These two places are totally different.  Handcross is a village and Chipping Campden is a famous town in the Cotswold, a tourist attraction and of course, the nearest town to famous Hidcote.  

In one (Handcross) the Hardware store is a minor miracle.  From birthday cards to hammers to kleenex to cakes to notebooks to children's toys, the Handware is all things to all people.  They kindly allowed me to sit on the floor in their office and connect to the internet.

The other (Chipping Campden) is town made famous by a nearby garden, Hidcote, famous neighbor, Johnny Depp and Shakespeare.  One can find a mini gourmet grocery, high-end antiques, hip restaurants, wifi and plenty of tourists.

The town signs may tell the story.  Chipping Campden has some sort of crest as its town sign and Handcross has a carriage.  One implies royalty and one is simply practical.

Chipping Campden
A National Trust site

Handcross 
The Handware a store the village can't do wihtout.

  Chipping Campden

 

 

Handcross

Chipping Campden

Handcross

I am not sure which one I prefer.  One is place real people live in.  It's bare bones. As Ed Itkin said of Handcross, "they will do well by you."  And so they have.