I sometimes talk
about winding country lanes, and tortuous back roads,
but the task of finding the Kings Head at France Lynch
put all other labyrinths to shame. At one point I
was sure I was on the wrong road, because it wasn't
a road, but someone's back alley or driveway to nowhere.
Fortunately I could not find anywhere to turn around,
so I had to keep going, and suddenly, there it was!
A golden Cotswold stone building, nestled on a small
terrace, pushed up against the tiniest of back lanes
(I brushed both wing mirrors at once on my way back
out). The valleys are narrow and steep, to the point
where many houses are in shade even in the middle
of the day, as shown here.
There were only
three locals in that lunchtime, and I intended having
only a half and driving on, but after chatting for
a while, having something to eat, and settling in,
I would quite happily have stayed for the weekend
had they offered accommodation. I did stay long enough
to try the Timothy Taylor's, the Hook Norton and the
local Archer's.
There is no doubt
that this pub was one of those discoveries that keep
me going. Due to the relegation of Great Brington's
Fox & Hounds, an opening in the Top Ten was available,
and the Kings Head was the clear, unequivocal, strongest
candidate for the position. Duly elected.
I nearly did not
have the opportunity to experience the Kings Head.
It temporarily closed its doors a few years ago and
was on its way to being a private
residence, when a local came in to save it. Bless
that person, whoever they were!
The pub has been
serving beer since the late 1700s, although the building
itself is probably older than that. It sits on a small
terrace, or lynch (hence the latter half of the village
name) which is just large enough to park a few cars
and every once in a while, situate a band. Apparently
the Kings Head is famous for its music festivals,
though its attendees must have to walk considerable
distances to get there because there really in nowhere
else to park beyond the smattering around the pub
itself.
The French connection
is from the Huguenot weavers who settled in the area
in the 1700s, escaping religious persecution in mainland
Europe, around Flanders and the Low Countries. This
influx coincided with a period of some prosperity
which was enhanced by the Huguenot's imported technology
of improved looms and materials. There was little
planning involved in the growth and it is said that
much of the road layout in the area is due more to
the meanderings of the local sheep than to the planning
of the local officials.
Times were not
always good in the France Lynch area. As the industry
migrated to the more regimented factories in Stroud,
so many of the houses in the area fell into disuse.
Even as late as the 1950s there were derelict houses
in what is now a very attractive area.
The residents
are justly proud of the network of magnificent dry
stone walls in the area, which are rightly protected
as part of our history. I find it interesting that
an analysis of the walls finds different styles from
different periods, and different materials being used
according to the local strata. Compare that with the
Yorkshire Dales, where the hundreds or thousands of
miles of dry stone walls were all built with the same
materials in the same style for generation after generation.
