Bibury is one of the most well known of all Cotswold villages. With rows of honey coloured stone cottages, a beautiful church, a nice hotel and good pubs it’s a lovely place to soak up the relaxed atmosphere and to enjoy a stroll and a meal if you’re in the area. There’s even a trout farm to visit and a wide shallow river full of fish and ducks runs through the village. It’s English through and through and quite gorgeous. In fact Bibury is often described as the most beautiful village in England.

A footbridge over the River Coln leads to Arlington Row. These buildings were initially used to store wool in the 13^th century then converted into weavers cottages for the local mill workers in the 17^th century.

These cottages are very popular with photographers from all over the world. There are similar picturesque buildings all over the Cotswolds so why is Arlington row so popular?  Most other cottages have multi-coloured cars parked right in front of them which tends to detract from the beauty of ancient buildings! The advantage Bibury has over other towns and villages is that the road in front of the cottages is not quite wide enough to park in.

There is just enough space for one car at the end Arlington Row. You can imagine the uproar when a resident parked a bright yellow car there! Luckily I managed to take a few shots without vehicles or tourists.

How amazing that these simple cottages have become so popular today. Most of the houses are private homes now except for No 9 which is a holiday cottage owned and rented out by the National Trust. (On the right behind the gate in the photo above) What a beautiful place to stay!

What I loved about these cottages was the way they all had lovely plants around their front doors. The do have private gardens at the back. Here at the front space is limited but just a narrow strip of earth is enough to grow some beautiful plants. Click this link if you’d like to know more about Bibury.

Happy Gardening.   Gillian  🙂