The Cotswolds
To many people the Cotswolds represent the classic English idyll of gentle rolling countryside and twee market towns.
The Cotswolds are an area of rolling hills surrounding the River Severn Valley, between Oxford , Gloucester, Bath and Stratford upon Avon . This timeless rural setting has been designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and depicts England at its most peacefully scenic, quaint and sometimes quirky.
This is quintessential rural England, a place of natural harmony, where hills roll gently, streams flow clear and lazily through wooded vales and sleepy towns with peculiar sounding names like Moreton-in-the-Marsh, Stow-on-the-Wold or Bourton-on-the-Water.
These little market towns add to the classic English scene, with village greens, old manor houses and cottages made from the characteristic honey coloured Cotswold Stone and thatched roofs, meandering riverside walks, old coaching inns and tea and scones. It is this picture of English rural life that Laurie Lee recalled from his childhood in the Cotswolds, in his best selling novel ‘Cider with Rosie’ and in summertime the Cotswolds come alive with colourful folk festivals, Morris Dances and country fetes.
Many visitors agree, the Cotswolds is the essence of England.
