The cows visit Minchinhampton High Street

I managed to attend the Thursday market again, having been stuck with a swollen foot last week. It was very cold when I arrived at about 8am with a dark sky and little cheer.

I suddenly spotted a jam of the few cars that travel through the Market Square at the top of the High Street, which is less than a hundred yards long, and where the four hundred year old Market House is sited where we have our stalls.

I quickly noticed the cows threading their way down the centre of the road from Butt Street and making a beeline for the First World War memorial which acts as a roundabout at the centre of the Square.

The cows are regular features as they have free roaming rights throughout Minchinhampton and the ancient common which takes its name. Normally there are several hundred cows and calves of varying breeds, as well as the famous five shire horses and the donkey called Alfie.

The cows headed straight for the potted plants around the memorial and even climbed over each other to reach the flowers. They were specifically interested in begonias and rejected others, which was a useful lesson to one of the market visitors who has a house on the edge of the common and loses many plants to their grazing habits. After a couple of minutes they had headed off again up Bell Lane which leads back to the common.

An hour later a herd of highland cattle came up the High Street from the opposite direction and avoided the pub and the flowers and then also headed up Bell Lane, beside the church. I must producxe a print of the cows as everyone always asks me for one as a classic example of aq Minchinhampton view.