We’re always amused by impressive-sounding descriptions which include sufficient qualifications to be almost meaningless. Rose just sent me this one:
“Lavenham is perhaps one of England’s finest preserved medieval weaving villages”
Almost every word, after the first two, is a restriction. Let’s read them backwards:
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We’re looking at villages here, not cities, towns or hamlets.
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They need to be primarily associated with weaving.
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Medieval weaving, that is. Or perhaps medieval villages. In any case, other periods need not apply.
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Their character has been preserved.
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Rather well preserved, in fact.
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Only English ones, mind you. None of your Belgian weavers, for the moment.
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There may be more than one village meeting all of the above.
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Lavenham may be one of them.
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Perhaps.
Well, I think we can agree on that.