ABC of Chippenham: Quaint

Quaint* might not be the word which immediately springs to mind when describing Chippenham to someone unfamiliar with the town. It's grown so much since we moved here and the bulk of the population now live in sprawling new housing estates.

However, an observant walk in the centre of town soon reveals little details like this water fountain I found at the side of a very quaint old building. The latter won't be revealed to you until we get to the letter Y...

Quaintness can be found down much of the High Street and surrounding side streets and alleyways, especially if the modern shop frontages at street level are ignored and the eye wanders upwards to look at the original architecture. It's these details combined with the mellow stone of many of the buildings which prompted visitors to describe Chippenham as 'Little Bath'

This is for ABC Wednesday and forms my 17th themed post about Chippenham.

* = Quaint is defined in my copy of The Penguin English Dictionary as 'attractively unusual esp if old-fashioned: odd, fanciful, whimsical'.

Comments

  1. Roger Owen Green11 May 2011 at 10:39

    old towns are almost always, by definition, quaint!
    ROG, ABC Wednesday team

    ReplyDelete
  2. Caro11 May 2011 at 18:54

    I always try to take the back streets and out of the way routes when walking in London just so that I can try and see what went before. It can be a very rewarding pastime! Caro x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Chubskulit Rose12 May 2011 at 05:04

    Very exquisite Q! Find out what my Q is at Nostalgic Marveling..

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jane and Chris12 May 2011 at 16:53

    Does the water fountain still work?
    It would be great for thirsty dogs.
    Jane x

    ReplyDelete
  5. Robert Webber13 May 2011 at 17:40

    Very good point re old archiecture-what lies back from shop fronts is often lovely!
    LOve the 'Water feature' - doubtless now consiodered unsafe!
    Thanks
    best
    R

    ReplyDelete
  6. VP19 May 2011 at 22:06

    ROG - yes

    Caro - good idea

    Robert - I don't think it's connected - probably for that very reason!

    ReplyDelete

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