Cirencester Boot Scrapers
February 27th, 2008 | Posted by Pauline
I have a lot more time to spend at the computer now that we don’t have to spend the day getting ready for a hike, doing a hike, recovering from a hike, planning the next day’s hike. Plus we have about 1 1/2 hours more daylight now than when we arrived. In early January it was dark by 5pm, now it is light until after 6pm.
Today was beautiful and sunny, so I took photos of the plants blooming in the garden. Have a look - Eastview Cottage Garden. I included a couple of photos of Whiz, the cat next door, who has finally got used to us and comes for regular visits.
We did our last visit (for this trip) to Cirencester and saw something we had never noticed before. Some of the older houses, at the end of Black Jack Street on the way to Cecily Hill and Cirencester Park, have built-in boot scrapers by the front door.
House in Cirencester. Notice the built-in boot scrapers.
Isn’t that interesting? We see lots of boot scrapers by the entrances to houses, pubs and churches, but have never noticed this style before. Usually they are attached to the sidewalk or ground just beside the door. These ones were designed into the building (or added later by removing a stone?).
Steve using the built-in boot scraper.
You need boot scrapers here. It is surprising just how much mud attaches itself to your shoes. I think our hiking boots may never get clean again.
February 28th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Pauline, that kittie, Whiz, is ADORABLE!!
February 28th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Isn’t he! It took a month of us calling him and whispering to him, and his owner bringing him over to us, for him to finally come over on his own. I am waiting for Chris C. to see this photo because I think he looks like her cat Carlos. There is another cat in the neighborhood who looks a lot like him, called “Guinness”. :)
March 1st, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Hi!
Truly enjoyed your garden on the big screen.So nice to see some green and flowers. Still snowy, cold and windy in Toronto.
Never heard of boot scrapers in my life. We could have used some during our summers in the Laurentians. We did it on the steps before entering the house. Also had to empty our shoes from sand and tiny stones.
All the best!
March 1st, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Just saw this! He is a beautiful boy, but not quite as gorgeous as my sweet Carlos.
You’ll be getting back to your cat just as I’m having to leave mine!
August 7th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Boot scrapers: When I was a child, my ancesteral home in Brabant (near Antwerp) had precisely the same boot scraper (only the one) to the right of our front door as you approached the house. It was not so much the mud as the dog fouling that was the problem. The scraper was excellent for that too… Our house was much like the one in your picture of the Cirencester house and the scrapers must have been built in the wall at the same time that the property was built (ours was). Of course in the 18th century it was the mud of the (unpaved/un- tarmaced) roads and all the horse manure (especially in the dark at night) that had to be scraped off before entering the house!
Dom Geoff+
August 7th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
We are always scraping off mud from hiking - and that is not just dirt, but a combination of dirt with cow and sheep droppings because we are always walking thru cow and sheep pastures. I have two pairs of dirty hiking boots in our garage here in Santa Fe, still needing to be scrubbed off after our winter trip to the Cotswolds!