Cotswolds
I
f you want to know where the
Cotswolds begin and end, you need
to look for the characteristics that
help define them: drystone walls; golden-
stone cottages; villages idly gathered
around greens; market towns unmarked
by the passage of time; ancient beech
woodland circled by mewing buzzards;
limestone grassland dotted with
scabious, harebells, cowslips and wild
orchids. It was this natural beauty that
led to the Cotswolds being designated
an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
back in 1966. The landscape has
influenced every aspect of this glorious
region: the sheep that grazed here
created the wealth that built the manor
houses and churches; the streams
powered the mills. A Disney film-set
would find it hard to surpass the idyllic
villages: Bourton-on-the-Water, the
Venice of the Cotswolds, where the River
Windrush passes through; the lovely
Slaughters; towns such as medieval
Tewkesbury, Regency Cheltenham and
Georgian Bath. Indeed, the nation's
favourite places, from Laurie Lee's Slad,
Bibury's Arlington Row and Sir Peter
Scott's Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust at
Slimbridge to Castle Combe and Bath's
Royal Crescent, are all to be found here.
But this is no backwater, for the
Cotswolds and Forest of Dean have
named themselves Britain's Rural Capital
of Culture. There are festivals galore �
literature, science, music, plus top horse-
racing at Cheltenham. You'll find theatre,
opera, artists and galleries. It's an area
that will make you laugh with its quirky
customs such as rolling cheeses down
hills; shin-kicking at the Cotswold
Olimpick Games; intrigue you with
mysteries like the legend-rich Rollright
Stones in Oxfordshire; and charm you
with eccentricities such as Snowshill
Manor, which is packed to the rafters
with a collector's ephemera. Moreover,
the Cotswolds have a water park � an
area of land one-and-a-half times as big
as the Norfolk Broads � where you can
sail, bird-watch or swim.
Don't Miss...
Spring at Westonbirt Arboretum, autumn in the Forest of Dean; Stroud Farmers'
Market; Prince Charles' Highgrove Shop in Tetbury; polo in Cirencester Park;
Churchill's birthplace, Blenheim Palace; Harry Potter film locations at Gloucester
Cathedral and Lacock Abbey; Gloucester Docks.
To find out more about
Cotswolds, visit
www.greatbritishlife.co.uk
and visit Cotswolds Life
Cotswolds
When Laurie Lee picked up his pen to immortalise the Cotswolds, the poetry flowed: rolling hills, deep
valleys, babbling streams, golden-stone cottages and bustling market towns
Most noted for...
� Honey-coloured stone
� Arts and Crafts houses
� Glorious walks on the
Cotswold Way
� Gloucester Old Spot pork
� Single Gloucester cheeses
� The Severn Bore
� Ancient wool churches
� Stroud's colony of artists
� Royal households
� The Cheltenham Gold Cup
� Celebrity incomers such
as Elizabeth Hurley and
Kate Moss
46 www.greatbritishlife.co.uk

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