Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire (pronounced GLOSS-ter-sher) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the valley of the River Severn, and all of the Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gloucester, and other principal towns include Cheltenham Spa, Stroud, Cirencester, and Tewkesbury.

www.gloucestershiretouristguide.com is an online guide to the county aimed at tourists, but also has information on weddings, estate agents, maps, books and health treatments.

The city of Gloucester has a fantastic Cathedral and great museums, including the National Waterways Museum. To the southwest lies Slimbridge, home of the Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, where geese, swans, and other wildfowl breed in a protected environment. More dramatic is Berkeley Castle, the medieval fortress that was the final prison for King Edward II. It was here, in a small room just off the main entrance to the castle, that the unfortunate Edward was murdered by his captors in 1327. The interior of the castle is original, with a 14th century great hall complete with a lovely 16th century wooden screen at one end. The Gloucestershire Tourist Guide is home to the Cotswold's, a wonderful region of warm honey coloured stone cottages and delightful villages centred on the Cotswold escarpment which runs for 100 miles from the outskirts of Bath north into Worcestershire, taking in some of the best scenery in rural England. The Cotswold Way long distance path runs the length of the region, and provides an enjoyable way to explore the villages and byways of the region.

Cheltenham, in its heyday, was a popular spa town, and it has as many fine Georgian and Regency buildings as the more visited Bath to the south. Nearby Chedworth is the site of perhaps the best example of a Roman villa in England. Tewkesbury, with many antique shops, has a superb abbey church surrounded by half-timbered Tudor buildings. A few short miles away is Winchcombe, yet another delightful Cotswold village, and home to Sudeley Castle, where Queen Katherine Parr ended her days. Nearby Belas Knap is one of the finest Neolithic chambered tombs in England. A short drive from Belas Knap brings you to two of England's finest gardens, Hidcote and Kiftsgate, while just down the road is Hailes Abbey, where the Cistercians housed a vial of Christ's blood to attract medieval pilgrims. The Royal Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the county. It is roughly a triangular area bounded by the River Wye to the west and north, the River Severn to the south, and the City of Gloucester to the east. It has over 110 km² of mixed forest, one of the most ancient surviving forests in England, with areas stretching across the border into Wales.

The main town for the forest is Coleford whilst Cinderford and Lydney are also busy visitor centres. The relative isolation of the region lends to it remaining relatively unspoilt.In the south of the county the River Severn forms the north-western edge of the area, with a wide coastal plain. East of this is the wide River Frome Valley area. Further east is another escarpment running roughly north-south, passing between Yate and Chipping Sodbury. The Cotswolds Escarpment forms the eastern edge of South Gloucestershire. Historically, Stroud is known for its involvement in the Industrial Revolution. It was a cloth town, woollen mills were powered by the small rivers which surge through the five valleys, and supplied by Cotswold sheep grazed on the hills above. Particularly noteworthy was the production of military uniforms in the trademark Stroudwater Scarlet colour.

Stroud was a fairly major industrial and trading location in the nineteenth century, and so needed transport links. It first had a canal network in the form of the Stroudwater Navigation and the Thames & Severn Canal, both of which struggled to survive until the early 20th century. These canals are now being restored as a leisure facility. Many historic buildings and places of interest can be found in the area. They include the neolithic long barrows at Uley, Selsley Common and Nympsfield to the west; Roman remains at Frocester, West Hill near Uley, Woodchester and Calcot Manor; the medieval buildings at Beverston Castle; and the outstanding Tudor houses at Newark Park and Owlpen Manor. An 'icon' of the county is The Gloucester Old Spot pig, an English breed which is predominantly white with black spots. It is named after the county and is a very popular breed. Owing to consumer pressure pigs have been increasingly reared outdoors in the UK. In these conditions, old breeds well-suited to living outdoors, such as the Gloucester Old Spot, have increasingly been chosen by farmers looking to add value to their products.

Local produce is typified by The Glocester Old Spot pig, traditionally an orchard pig. They were pastured in orchards where they ate drop apples. They are good foragers and survive very well in pastures without supplemental feed. Old Spots tend to be very calm, good natured animals, another trait that makes them desireable to homesteaders and small farmers. The females tend to be very devoted mothers, while the males seldom pose a threat to piglets.The "Gloucester Old Spot" is also the name of a public house at Piff's Elm, while Uley Brewery has both an ale and a public house in Dursley named "Old Spot" after the pig.For those that like 'Royal Watching', there are several royal residences in the county, including Highgrove House, Gatcombe Park, and Nether Lypiatt Manor.