Collyweston (Villages & Resorts in Northamptonshire)

Member Name: alysonfreeman

Product:	Villages & Resorts in Northamptonshire
Date:	30/07/01 (60 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful, Convenient

Disadvantages: Busy main road, No school

Collyweston is a small village in East Northamptonshire. It's on the A43 between Stamford and Corby, and is really a place people pass through rather than a place to visit as a tourist.
But for those of us who live here, it's the best place on earth. Many of the houses are very old, and are roofed with Collyweston Slate. This is a sort of limestone that was quarried or mined in this area until quite recently. The slates are all lumpy and bumpy and weigh a ton, but look really beautiful - much better than grey slates or modern red concrete! They grow all kinds of lichens and the rooves often sag attractively (might not look so good inside the house, though).
Lots of the houses have large gardens, and it's worth peeping over hedges to see what has been done with them. Lots of orchards, vege patches, lovely flowers - it's all here!
There's a pub, The Collyweston Slater, which does good food and is very welcoming, and serves a good pint. The church looks great from my back garden, although to my shame I've never visited it. There is one blot on the landscape - the cement works across the valley. It is lit up at night and looks like Mordor from Lord of the Rings - quite spooky!
Today I went for a walk round the village and finally found the feature that appears in guidebooks - the sundial. This is a really unusual arched sandstone sundial that apparently tells the time accurately (though it doesn't know about British Summertime). It is on private land, but you can see it if you ask nicely. It's only taken me 5 years to find it!
This is a lovely village to live in, and the people are great too. Sorry the op isn't funny, but I don't want to make fun of the place I live!

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