Stow-on-the-Wold in the Cotswolds

16 February 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Market Square © Bs0u10e01/cc-by-sa-4.0

Market Square © Bs0u10e01/cc-by-sa-4.0

Stow-on-the-Wold is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, on top of an 800-foot (244 m) hill at the junction of main roads through the Cotswolds, including the Fosse Way (A429), which is of Roman origin. The town was founded by Norman lords to absorb trade from the roads converging there. Fairs have been held by royal charter since 1330; a horse fair is still held on the edge of town nearest to Oddington in May and October each year.   read more…

Bibury in the Cotswolds

19 January 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

© LeighCousins/cc-by-sa-4.0

© LeighCousins/cc-by-sa-4.0

Bibury is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is on the River Coln, a Thames tributary that rises in the same (Cotswold) District. The village centre is 6.5 miles (10.5 kilometres) northeast of Cirencester. Arlington Row is a nationally notable architectural conservation area depicted on the inside cover of some British passports. It is a major destination for tourists visiting the traditional rural villages, tea houses and many historic buildings of the Cotswold District; it is one of six places in the country featured in Mini-Europe, Brussels. The world’s first horse racing club, The Bibury Club, was formed in 1681 and held race meetings on Macaroni Downs above the village until the early 20th century.   read more…

Evesham in Worcestershire

4 January 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

© Nilfanion/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Nilfanion/cc-by-sa-4.0

Evesham is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesham, an area comprising the flood plain of the River Avon, which has been renowned for market gardening. The town centre, situated within a meander of the river, is subjected regularly to flooding. The 2007 floods were the most severe in recorded history.   read more…

Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds

24 June 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

High Street © geograph.org.uk - John H Darch/cc-by-sa-2.0

High Street © geograph.org.uk – John H Darch/cc-by-sa-2.0

Chipping Campden is a market town in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. It is notable for its terraced High Street, dating from the 14th century to the 17th century. (“Chipping” is from Old English cēping, ‘market’, ‘market-place’; the same element is found in other towns such as Chipping Norton, Chipping Sodbury and Chipping (now High Wycombe).   read more…

Biddestone in the Cotswolds

19 June 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  3 minutes

The White Horse © geograph.org.uk - Stuart Logan/cc-by-sa-2.0

The White Horse © geograph.org.uk – Stuart Logan/cc-by-sa-2.0

Biddestone is a village and civil parish in northwest Wiltshire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) west of Chippenham and 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Corsham. The parish includes the smaller settlement of Slaughterford.   read more…

Broadway, jewel of the Cotswolds

26 May 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Living, Working, Building Reading Time:  6 minutes

Row houses of Cotswold stone © Peter K Burian/cc-by-4.0

Row houses of Cotswold stone © Peter K Burian/cc-by-4.0

Broadway is a large village and civil parish in the Cotswolds, England, with a population of 2,540 at the 2011 census. It is in the far southeast of Worcestershire, close to the Gloucestershire border, midway between Evesham and Moreton-in-Marsh. It is sometimes referred to as the “Jewel of the Cotswolds”. The village is overlooked by Broadway Hill, the highest point in the northern Cotswolds at 1,024 ft (312 m) above sea level, which is popular with hill walkers.   read more…

Cotswolds in England

20 December 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon voyage, Living, Working, Building, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  9 minutes

Broadway row © Peter K Burian/cc-by-sa-4.0

Broadway row © Peter K Burian/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Cotswolds is an area in south-central, West Midlands and South West England comprising the Cotswold Hills, a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment, known as the Cotswold Edge, above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jurassic limestone that creates a type of grassland habitat rare in the UK and that is quarried for the golden-coloured Cotswold stone. It contains unique features derived from the use of this stone; the predominantly rural landscape contains stone-built villages, historical towns and stately homes and gardens.   read more…

Broadway Tower in the Cotswolds

18 November 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  5 minutes

Picnic © Saffron Blaze/cc-by-sa-3.0

Picnic © Saffron Blaze/cc-by-sa-3.0

Broadway Tower is a folly on Broadway Hill, near the large village of Broadway, in the English county of Worcestershire, at the second-highest point of the Cotswolds (after Cleeve Hill). Broadway Tower’s base is 1,024 feet (312 metres) above sea level. The tower itself stands 65 feet (20 metres) high. The tower is a tourist attraction and the centre of the Broadway Tower Country Park with various exhibitions open to the public at a fee, as well as a gift shop and restaurant. The place is on the Cotswold Way and can be reached by following the Cotswold Way from the A44 road at Fish Hill, or by a steep climb out of Broadway village.   read more…

Castle Combe in England

15 April 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Environment Reading Time:  7 minutes

The Manor House Hotel © Adrian Pingstone

The Manor House Hotel © Adrian Pingstone

Castle Combe is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 5 miles (8 km) northwest of the town of Chippenham. The village has two parts: one is in the narrow valley of the By Brook, while Upper Castle Combe is on higher ground to the east, on the B4039 road which links Chippenham with Chipping Sodbury. A motor racing circuit is to the south of the upper village. The village takes its name from the 12th-century castle which stood about 1/3 mile (500 m) to the north.   read more…

Return to TopReturn to Top