The 'Four Shires' of the Cotswolds make up an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and this rural region is also packed with cultural treasures: castles and country houses, gardens and estates, Roman ruins and the historic Fosse Way. Author Caroline Mills shares her love of the Cotswolds with an enthusiastic, personal narrative guiding visitors from market towns to elegant abbeys, cheese-rolling competitions to Rollright Stones. This is a colourful guidebook that offers far more than dry practicalities; Mills interviews local craftsmen and characters, and reveals local stories and folklore. She shows the rewards to be had from 'slow' breaks that allow you to get under the skin of the region, and highlights restaurants and cafés that use locally produced ingredients. Enjoy a performance by the Royal Shakespeare Company, find out more about the Cotswold Lion or discover the source of the River Thames.
'The Slow guides are the perfect travel companion – warm, witty and stuffed with insider knowledge. I can't think of a better way to unlock the joys of Britain.'
Carl Honoré, author of In Praise of Slow
'....Mills is knowledgeable and in love with the region in which she spent her formative years. This passion comes through in her prose.'
thetraveleditor.com
'...Slow Cotswolds is a great example of an excellent local guide from a large travel publisher....it's an essential addition to all of our summer excursion toolkits, offering stacks of tips to help us enjoy the natural riches on our doorstep.'
Bath Life
'In her book, Mills shares her love of the Cotswolds with an enthusiastic, personal narrative, guiding visitors from market towns to elegant abbeys, cheese-rolling competitions to Rollright Stones.'
tlm magazine
Customer Reviews:
Reviewed by: Teme Valley Times on 7th November 2011 4:43PM
"This is a very readable guidebook that manages to squeeze in enough information about places to visit, without creating a book that's heavy or unwieldy." Teme Valley Times
Reviewed by: cotswolds on 25th July 2011 5:53PM
Having recently moved to the area, this book has been invaluable in helping us connect to the Cotswolds. The author's personal narrative and wit, along with just enough history to whet my appetite, is now my bible!!
Contents
Going Slow in the Cotswolds vi
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty viii, In this book x, How to use this book xi
1. Stratford-Upon-Avon 1
Getting there and around 1, Accommodation 3, Food and drink 4, Shakespeare’s Stratford
4, Stratford without Shakespeare 14
2. North Cotswolds 19
Getting there and around 19, Accommodation 22, South Warwickshire 23, Towards the
Vale of Evesham 27, Chipping Campden and around 32, Broadway and its villages 39
3. Four Shires 47
Getting there and around 47, Accommodation 49, Southernmost Warwickshire and
northernmost Oxfordshire 49, North Oxfordshire proper (and a bit of west Oxfordshire) 53,
Feldon and the Stour Valley 63, Around the Four Shires Stone 69
4. High Cotswolds 75
Getting there and around 75, Accommodation 78, Between Moreton and Stow – a triangle
of villages 79, Hills and valleys – Stow and its western neighbours 84, The Guitings,
Kineton and Ford – the quiet core 90, The seat of Mercia – Winchcombe and its villages
94, The Cotswolds’ highest point – Cheltenham and its high commons 98,
East from Cheltenham, and around the A436 102
5. The Thames Tributaries 107
Getting there and around 107, Accommodation 110, The Windrush Valley 111,
The Leach Valley 118, The Coln Valley 121, The Churn Valley 128, The Evenlode Valley 132
6. Oxford 143
Getting there and around 143, Accommodation 146, Food and drink 146, North of Queen
Street and West of Cornmarket Street 148, North of the High Street and east of St Giles
151, South of the High Street and east of St Aldates 154, South of Queen Street and west
of St Aldates 157, Oxford’s outskirts 158
7. Thames Valley 161
Getting there and around 162, Accommodation 163, The source – Kemble and Ewen to
Cricklade 163, North of the river – the Ampneys 169, Inglesham to Kelmscott 171
8. The Southern Cotswold Scarp and Five Valleys 179
Getting there and around 181, Accommodation 182, The Frome Valley (Golden Valley) 183,
The Painswick Valley and the Slad Valley 187, Stroud 194, The Cotswold Scarp – the dry
valley? 195, The Nailsworth Valley 202, The commons and skinny valleys 206
9. Wiltshire Cotswolds 213
Getting there and around 213, Accommodation 215, The young Avon Valley to
Malmesbury 216, Dyrham and Marshfield 220, The By Brook Valley 222, Bradford-on-Avon
and the Limpley Stoke Valley 229
10. Bath 233
Getting there and around 235, Accommodation 237, Food and drink 237, Old Bath
– around Bath Abbey 239, New Bath – 18th-century Bath 245, East of the river 252
Index 256
Travel writer Caroline Mills contributes to various UK magazines and guidebooks. She has lived in the Cotswolds for almost 40 years.
Customer Reviews:
Reviewed by: Teme Valley Times on 7th November 2011 4:43PM
"This is a very readable guidebook that manages to squeeze in enough information about places to visit, without creating a book that's heavy or unwieldy." Teme Valley Times
Reviewed by: cotswolds on 25th July 2011 5:53PM
Having recently moved to the area, this book has been invaluable in helping us connect to the Cotswolds. The author's personal narrative and wit, along with just enough history to whet my appetite, is now my bible!!
