‘Go to Stow’ is a tourism phrase in England

Visitors to the United Kingdom like to go to a place known as Stow-on-the-Wold. It’s a picture-book, historic village in Gloucestershire County, located in southwest England. Only about 2,500 people live there year-round, so “quaint” is also a good modifier for Stow-on-the-Wold. 

Because the town has the highest elevation of any community within the Cotswolds region, at 800 feet above sea level, the locals warn of winters in “Stow-on-the-Wold, where the wind blows cold.” 

The charm of the place begins with its name. The word “Cotswold” is in fact two words: “cots,” meaning a sheep’s shelter, and “wold,” meaning gently rolling hills.

Stow-on-the-Wold is known as the “Holy Place on the Hill,” in tribute to St. Edward. The town church is named in his honor, built near the middle of the 11th century. The church bells are the loudest in all Gloucestershire. 

The town square in Stow-on-the-Wold was once the site of England’s premier sheep market. As many as 20,000 sheep were often sold during a single day. 

One American travel writer offered this description of the place: “Imagine the cutest cottages in honey-colored limestone, ornamented with thatched roofs and beautiful flowers.” 

Stow-on-the-Wold’s reputation as a haven for retirees dates back more than half a century. When Irishman Harry Ferguson quit selling Massey Ferguson tractors in 1954 and retired at age 70, he and his wife, Maureen, took up fulltime residence at Abbotswood, a sprawling 10-bedroom country manor on a 774-acre estate.

 

Harry Ferguson was loved and celebrated by the Irish and British people, and stories about the world-famous “Little Grey Fergies” were told and retold around the pub tables at The Porch House in Stow-on-the-Wold, England’s oldest roadside inn. 

Patrons recall Harry Ferguson’s 1946 gigantic cocktail party for his customers, held at one of London’s swankiest hotels, Claridge’s. Wearing a business suit, Ferguson hopped up onto the seat of one of his new tractors and drove it around the ballroom…and then bump-bump-bump down the hotel steps onto the public sidewalk.

While living at Abbotswood, Harry Ferguson wrote new chapters of history related to the automotive industry. He introduced car safety improvements known a four-wheel drive system and anti-skid braking. He decided the best way to showcase these advancements was through the development of a Grand Prix race car.

Sir Stirling Moss drove the Ferguson P99 Formula One four-wheel drive racing car to claim the Gold Cup championship in 1961 at Oulton Park Circuit near Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. Sadly, Ferguson, who died in 1960 at age 75, did not live to see the victory flag wave.

Sir Stirling Moss

 During the last 10 years of his life, Harry Ferguson was twice offered knighthood, and he twice declined. Responding to a letter from Sir Winston Churchill, who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and an advocate, Ferguson said: “Knighthoods should be reserved for servicemen and statesmen, whose financial rewards were relatively small, and should not be given to businessmen or industrialists with financial wealth.”

A recently retired British chap and multi-millionaire has taken up residence at Abbotswood. He is David Beckham, 45, who enjoyed a 20-year career as an elite professional soccer player, before hanging up his cleats in 2013. 

His wife, Victoria Beckham, sang with the all-female British pop group known as the Spice Girls. Today, Victoria is an internationally acclaimed fashion designer. The Beckhams have three sons, Cruz, Brooklyn and Romeo, as well as a daughter, Harper.