Tour and Explore with Anne Bartlett ( see one of my blogs about Cheltenham ) Guided Walks around Gloucester: From its early days as a fortified Roman town called Glevum, situated on the banks of the River Severn, Gloucester has played a prominant role in English history ever since. It was from Gloucester in 1086 that William the Conqueror ordered a huge survey of his newly conquered country which was recorded in the Domesday Book. The glory of the city though, is its Cathedral with its impressive architecture and famous east window; but where do you put the body of a murdered king? Which King of England had his coronation in Gloucester? Lets look at the chapels, tombs, crypt and plaques to discover some amazing stories from Gloucester�s past. Delving into popular fiction, the famous Harry Potter caught the Hogwarts Express train from platform 9� at Kings Cross Station. He arrived at Hogwarts School for lessons in magic, witchcraft and wizardry and got into The Chamber of Secrets and also found the Philosopher�s stone. We will see if we can discover places where Harry, Ron and Hermione had their adventures.

The impressive buildings around Gloucester�s fine cathedral include College Court and the Beatrix Potter Shop. Hear about a local story which inspired the writing of �The Tailor of Gloucester.� No visit to Gloucester is complete however, without a visit to its historic docks and a visit to The National Waterways museum. ( See one of my blogs about Gloucester ) Guided walks around Tewkesbury: One of the finest medieval towns in England, Tewkesbury, with its glorious abbey church, its half timbered buildings and narrow alleys, sits at the confluence of the rivers Severn and Avon. But what terrible event occured on an area known as Bloody Meadow? Where is the Ancient Grudge? Let�s wander through the alleyways and alongside the river to discover more about this intriguing place. Guided Walks around Cirencester Considered to be the capital of the Cotswolds, Cirencester was in Roman times, the second largest town in Britain after London. The town�s Corinium Museum has one of the largest and most important collections of Roman objects in the country.

During the Middle Ages Cirencester became a very important wool market for the Cotswolds but the cloth trade declined during the Industrial Revolution and since then the town has developed as an agricultural centre. The magnificent parish church of St John the Baptist was originally Norman but as a result of many additions during the 14th and 15th centuries by rich local merchants it is now regarded as one of the finest perpendicular churches in England. But who paid for the building of the church tower and why were their severed heads sent to a grateful King? Guided Walks round Chipping Campden The name �Chipping� is an Old English word for market or trading place. From the 14th century Chipping Campden was a wool town where merchants bought fleeces to the 14th century Woolstaplers Hall for export mainly to Italy and Flanders for huge profits. The wealth of the town is reflected in its buildings, over a hundred are listed which means that they are of great historical and architectural importance. The church of St James is an imposing church, one of the finest �wool� churches in the Cotswolds with a fine west tower. It was built mainly in the 15th century.

It contains many impressive tombs and monuments. Above the town is Dover�s Hill where on a clear day there are marvellous views over the Vale of Evesham. Hear about the �Cotswold Olimpicks� and the bizarre rural sport of shin kicking and learn about The Campden Wonder. The Cotswolds Is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, It is a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the �Heart of England�, an area which is 25 miles (40km) across and 90 miles (145km) long. It is excellent walking country criss-crossed by many ancient footpaths. The Cotswold Way walk: Is now a National Trail just over 100 miles in length. It lies between the Cotswold town of Chipping Campden and the Georgian town of Bath. Along its pathway are some amazing views, beautiful countryside and attractive towns and villages. Guided Walks around Bath Bath�s well preserved Roman remains and its abundance of Georgian architecture make it an impressive and important World Heritage Site. Bath is an internationally famous spa town which is easy to explore with its compact and traffic free centre.

As well as its wealth of history and places of interest Bath has market stalls, street musicians and entertainers, museums, outdoor cafes and enticing shops. Guided Walks around Stratford-Upon-Avon Is one of the most historic and busy tourist towns in the country. William Shakespeare was born here on 23rd April 1564. He bought New Place for his retirement, after spending much of his working life in London, and died here on 23rd April 1616. He was buried age 52 in the chancel of Holy Trinity Church on the banks of the River Avon. In 1769 David Garrick organised the first Shakespeare festival and this started a literary pilgrimage to the town. There are a number of buildings connected with William Shakespeare and his family that you can visit, such as Shakespeare�s Birthplace, Anne Hathaway�s Cottage, Mary Arden�s House, Hall�s Croft and Nash�s House alongside the remains of New Place which was demolished. Let me tell you the amazing story as to why it was pulled down.

Farson Digital Watercams - Hi-def webcam on River Avon (Central), at Avon Lock Severn Level Website | Email | More information Many thanks to The Avon Navigation Trust for facilitating this camera's location and capitally funding its installation. Tewkesbury is a town in Gloucestershire It stands at the confluence of the River Severn and the River Avon, and also minor tributaries the Swilgate and Carrant Brook. It gives its name to the Borough of Tewkesbury, of which the town is the second largest settlement. The name Tewkesbury comes from Theoc, the name of a Saxon who founded a hermitage there in the 7th century, and in the Old English tongue was called Theocsbury. The area around Tewkesbury is frequently affected by flooding. In general such flooding causes little damage to property as the town is surrounded by large areas of floodplain which restrict urban development and the ability for the town to spread.

However, extreme flooding events have caused damage to property and affected transport links, the most significant events occurring in 1947, 1960, 2007 and 2014 Farson Digital Watercams - Hi-def webcam on River Avon (Central), at Tewkesbury Avon Navigation Trust Mill Wharf, Mill Lane Wyre Piddle WR10 2JF The navigable river Avon runs from Alveston Weir above Stratford-upon Avon, for 47 miles, winding it's way through the Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and Gloucestershire countryside, down to Tewkesbury where it joins the river Severn. The Severn Rivers Trust 4 Dunthrop Road, Heythrop Chipping Norton OX7 5TL An independent environmental charity established to secure the preservation, protection, development and improvement of the rivers, streams, watercourses and water bodies in the Severn catchment.

Tewkesbury Marina Bredon Road, Tewkesbury Gloucestershire GL20 5BY Tewkesbury Marina is in a beautiful location on the outskirts of Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, at the junction of the River Severn and the River Avon. Set on the banks of the River Avon in the beautiful Gloucestershire countryside with easy access to the River Severn, The marina, with its extensive facilities including 400 flood protected moorings offers a safe berth for family and friends to enjoy life afloat in a friendly and relaxed environment. Tewkesbury Marina - Boat Sales Bredon Road, Tewkesbury Gloucestershire GL20 5BY Our broker is highly qualified and experienced. We are here to offer professional advice, on all aspects of the sale and ensure that your purchase goes smoothly. As proud members of ABYA, BRBA and BMF we have a high standard of customer care and are particularly pleased to help first time buyers. We are here to help, please call...

Tewkesbury | England, United Kingdom | Britannica.com England, United Kingdom Tewkesbury, town (parish), Tewkesbury borough (district), administrative and historic county of Gloucestershire , southwest-central England . It is situated at the confluence of the Rivers Severn and Avon (Upper, or Warwickshire, Avon). The town is the administrative centre for the borough. The Royal Hop Pole, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, Eng. Jongleur100 A small Benedictine abbey was founded in 715 on the site of the present Abbey Church of St. Mary’s. The later medieval abbey was consecrated in 1123 and rebuilt after a fire in 1178; considerable additions were made in the 15th century. At the time of the dissolution of the monasteries (1536–39), the choir, transepts, and square Norman tower of the abbey were purchased by the townsfolk, but much of the remainder of the building was destroyed.

The feudal earls of Gloucester made Tewkesbury a free borough in the 12th century, and the royal charter of liberties granted in 1698 remains in force. In 1471, during the Wars of the Roses , the Battle of Tewkesbury was an important Yorkist victory. Among buildings of architectural interest is the Black Bear (1308), perhaps the oldest inn in Gloucestershire; another inn, the Hop Pole, is mentioned in The Pickwick Papers by the 19th-century novelist Charles Dickens . Tewkesbury, reputedly famous for mustard in William Shakespeare’s day, is a centre for boating and angling, especially on the slow-flowing Avon. The town’s main industries are flour milling, engineering, and boatbuilding. Pop. (2001) 10,016; (2011)10,704.

Learn More in these related articles: The English Administrative County of Gloucestershire The English Administrative County of Gloucestershire Gloucestershire Arms The Armorial Bearings (Arms) of the County of Gloucestershire Adjust the Gloucestershire map using controls or drag with mouse Map Centre Position: Lat , Long . Map Zoom Level: - Icon Help (The external website above will open in a new window) Population and area summary of the County of Gloucestershire The County of Gloucestershire is located in The Midland Counties of England, it covers an administrative area of 2,653Km² and in 2001 was home to a population of 564,559 persons, that represents 1.15% of that of England and 0.01% of the population of the entire United Kingdom. More detailed information including visitor attractions and event venues in Gloucestershire is available on this site by following the links below to the Boroughs and/or Districts or follow this link to select a different County . Boroughs/Districts of the County of Gloucestershire Unitary Authorities and Metropolitan Areas may be displayed here as they are locations are historically associated with this county/region.

Unitary Authorities and Metropolitan Areas are however self-governing and are no longer responsible to the County/Regional Administration. Unitary Authorities Historical notes about The English Administrative County of Gloucestershire GLOUCESTERSHIRE in 1950 (Note: Since the notes below were compiled both Bristol and the southern portion of the county, South Gloucestershire , have seperated administratively from the "old" county and now govern themselves as Unitary Auhtorities) These high wild hills and rough uneven ways Draw out our miles and make them wearisome Thus Shakespeare's Richard II, describing, not, as you might think, the mountain country of Snowdonia or the steep ascents of the Yorkshire Fells, but the Cotswold country of Gloucestershire. To one who has stayed and walked in the Cotswolds , Richard's description must seem singularly inapt. There are steep ascents, certainly - the climb, for instance, up from the Stroud Valley to the lovely expanse of Minchinhampton Common; there are plenty of footpaths where the need is for stout shoes.

But the prevailing impression of the Cotswolds is of a rolling, pleasant, smiling land, unique not for its savagery but for the beauty of its grey, stone-built farm and manor houses, its low stone walls in place of hedge or paling, its remoteness still from the threat of urbanization. I have yet to find a walker in the Cotswolds who found the miles "drawn out" or "wearisome." It is the Cotswolds of which most people think when the word Gloucestershire is mentioned. This range of grassy uplands, running south-west from the Midlands to the Bristol Channel, is the geographical heart and centre of the county, even as in days gone by it was the chief source of its prosperity and wealth. But it would be a mistake to overstress this single feature of Gloucestershire. The county has many other facets. Gloucestershire has more neighbours than any other except Northamptonshire . To the west it stretches out to the Welsh Marches, where it borders Monmothshire and Herefordshire . To the south it touches Wessex, where it meets with Somerset and Wiltshire . Northwards it has, as Mildand neighbours, Worcestershire and Warwickshire .

To the east are Oxfordshire and, for a few contiguous miles, Berkshire , outpost of the Home Counties. Geographically the county, like Caesar's Gaul, can be divided into three parts. To the east, the Cotswolds ; to the west, the Forest of Dean ; and down the centre, the country of the River Severn, the vales of Berkeley and Gloucester. To the east, the pastoral areas of sheep-rearing; to the west, the minefields; in the vales, the great orchards which are one of the glories, and sources of material profit as well, of the West Country. Busy Inland Port Centrally situated in the county, on the lower reaches of the Severn, is Gloucester , the capital, a cathedral city, old in tradition and dignity, oddly wedded to the paraphernalia - the docks and wharves and merchant seamen - of a still busy inland port. A small distance to the northwards is the large residential town of Cheltenham Spa - once for a brief period, in the heyday of George III, the Mecca of the world of fashion, but now the abode for the most part of the elderly and pensioned.

And at the south-western corner of the county, on the Somersetshire border, eight miles up the River Avon from the Bristol Channel, lies the ancient port, busy manufacturing town and modern university centre of Bristol . These are Gloucestershire's three main urban centres. Certainly they must take an important place in any description of the county, as must the mining villages of the Forest of Dean . None the less, Gloucestershire is predominately rural, an area of pasture land or orchard, dotted with small and peaceful country and market towns. More than three-quarters of the total area (1,254 square miles) of the county is under cultivation, most of it permanent grass. Sheep farming no longer brings Gloucestershire the prosperity it afforded her in the Middle Ages and early Tudor times, but it is still probably the county's clearest distinguishing mark. There are some English counties - Cornwall is a notable example - which have histories of their own, sharp and distinct. Gloucestershire is not to be reckoned among them. Rather has it partaken through the centuries of the main stream of the nation's events. In Roman days the great Fosse Way ran straight from south to north across the Cotswold Hills.

Its course is followed to-day by a metalled trunk road passing through the oldest market town of Cirencester , with its fine church tower and famous Perpendicular porch. But Gloucestershire bears many traces of far earlier inhabitants. The Cotswold country abounds in burial grounds whose flint arrow-heads date them as belonging to the Later Stone Age. The Nailsworth area abounds in these "barrows," often known locally as "tumps." Among the best known locally is Hetty Pegler's Tump at Uley. Equally common in the Cotswolds are the great rectangular earthworks and camps, whose shape shows them to have been also pre-Roman in origin, and which were probably unsuccessfully defended when the Romans, advancing from the coast, established one of their earliest permanent settlements at Corinium (the modern Cirencester ). But it was over a thousand years later that Gloucestershire made its bow as an English county. It is first mentioned as such in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 1016. From this century date the castles of Bristol and Gloucester, built by William the Conqueror in part to ward off the plundering expeditions of the Welsh, in part to hold down the conquered English.

Bristol Castle became the chief stronghold of the party of the Empress Matilda against her cousin Stephen in the civil war that followed the death of Henry I. One chronicle, indeed, refers to this struggle, which in fact raged over most of England, as the Bristol War. Independent Bristol Bristol was the scene, two hundred years later, of probably the first example of a struggle between the middle classes and the king. The townspeople of this already busy trading port objected to the payment of certain dues to the king's constable, and rioted in protest. The king countered by depriving Bristol of its civil liberties. Open rebellion followed, and for three years the Bristol citizens maintained an independent republic within the English kingdom, withstanding the onslaught of an army of twenty thousand sent against them. Bristol was to declare against the king once more, in the Civil War. One of the chief victories of the Royalists was the capture of the city after the battle of Roundway Down in 1643. But Gloucester , the county's capital, held fast for Parliament, withstanding a murderous three months' siege.

Had it fallen, a great belt of the West Country would have been assured to the king, for Worcester and Shrewsbury, as well as Bristol , were already in his hands. Its relief was followed by the recapture of Bristol , and may be regarded as a turning point of the war. In the intervening centuries the county had prospered. The later Middle Ages and Tudor times saw the heyday of Gloucestershire's wool trade, and, so long as it throve, so did the ports of Bristol and Gloucester flourish and expand. A later development was the growth of the broadcloth industry in the Stroud Valley. And all the time iron was being worked from rich deposits of the Forest of Dean . In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Gloucester wool was yielding pride of place to the produce of the Yorkshire Dales. And Bristol , in particular, suffered a corresponding decline. But the conquest and exploitation of the West Indies brought to the city a revival of prosperity which has persisted ever since. Bristol became the great entry port for the sugar, the bananas and other tropical produce which the West Indies now provided. At about the same time there was added the bulk of the new tobacco trade which was developing with the North American continent.

Later, cocoa and chocolate from the West African colonies were added to Bristol 's wealth. To-day the port handles nearly ten million pounds worth of goods a year, and her docks can cope with all but the very largest vessels afloat. The men of Somerset can rightly claim a share in Bristol 's fame. For part of the city lies across the River Avon, which forms the border between the two counties. But Gloucester is all Gloucestershire's own. Here, in the Middle Ages, parliament was often summoned when the king was on a progress through the West Country. Here in the fifteenth century the Commons successfully demanded and secured against Henry IV the right to freedom of debate. Here succession of the Earls of Gloucester schemed in semi-independence through Plantagenet, Lancastrian and Yorkist times till the most notorious of them all, Richard, the hunchback, murderer king, fell on the field of Bosworth. Here, too, was the birthplace of the Perpendicular style of Gothic architecture. The fourteenth century choir of Gloucester Cathedral is the first example of this style in England, just as the cloisters contain the first experiment in the design of roof vaulting know as fan tracery.

Another Gloucestershire town which forms part of English history is Tewkesbury . On the banks of the Warwickshire Avon, at its confluence with the Severn, stands the lovely red stone abbey, an almost unblemished specimen of Norman architecture. At Tewkesbury the House of Lancaster met in 1471 final defeat at the hands of the Yorkists. Tewkesbury , too, is, by tradition, the home of the best mustard in the kingdom. "He is good wit," says Falstaff of Prince Hal's boon companion Poins. "Hang him, baboon; his wit is as thick as Tewkesbury mustard." Through the pattern of Gloucestershire's story run, too, the names of great families prominent from the Middle Ages. The Beauforts (descended from the John of Gaunt) at Great Badminton , where the stabling is the most extensive in the country; the Berkeleys, owners of Berkeley Castle, which since the days of William the Conqueror has looked frowning out across the wide waters of the Severn towards the Welsh Marches; the Bathursts, who have lived in and owned great estates for centuries round Cirencester .

And among famous men Gloucestershire can claim a share in John Cabot, who beat Columbus to it in discovering the continent of North America; Whitbread, who made Bristol a centre of the Methodist faith; Simon de Montfort, who owned estates in Gloucestershire, and, in more modern times, the greatest cricketing personality the world has ever known, Dr W. G. Grace. Gloucestershire's cricketing history is a story in itself. I have no space for it here. I cannot forbear to mention, however, that apart from the Grand Old Man of English cricket the county has produced Walter Hammond. So much for Gloucestershire's past. To-day the county displays within its borders almost every facet of the national life. No area in the country can better serve as a cross section of modern England, can more thoroughly illustrate the multifarious activities of the British people. In the wide uplands and green valleys of the Cotswold country you will find English domestic rural life at its most peaceful and serene. Through these valleys flow the little tributaries of the Thames - the Windrush, the Coln, the Evenlode - names as lovely as the countryside through which the streams meander.

And in these uplands - one of England's great watersheds - rises the Thames itself. Cotswold Life Walk through the country of the Cotswolds on a fine spring or summer evening, and you will be surrounded by a scene of utter peace. For miles around there is no sign of movement save for the grazing sheep or cattle. You may be tempted, indeed, to conclude that this is the peace of a land whence activity had drained away. But you would be wrong so to conclude. It is the peace of unhurried labour. There is plenty doing in the Cotswolds , but it is done without fuss or intolerance of any kind, to the background of years and centuries in which men and women have won their living from the land, un-harried by urban incursions of any kind. It is said that the inhabitants of the Cotswold country town of Painswick hold the English record for longevity. If so, it must surely be because their surroundings enable them to live their lives at an even pace, and to live it thoroughly and whole. The centres of Cotswold life are the multitudes small villages - six or more of them perhaps within a three mile radius.

Some of these are no more than a dozen houses grouped round a church many sizes too big for them. All of them are focal points for the local activities. The life of the village is the be-all and end-all of the inhabitants. It is a land of small communities, self-contained, little touched by the outside world, indifferent though friendly to the tourist traffic that will pass through them on a fine week-end. Architectural Paradise These villagers live in a paradise of domestic architecture. Man-made as well as natural beauty surrounds them. Many of the small manor houses which abound in the district date from Elizabethan days, and the more modern houses are built, for the most part, on the same architectural plan. All are constructed from the warm grey local Cotswold stone - a stone which weathers rapidly and gives, even to quite modern buildings, the pleasing impression of ripe old age. This special Cotswold asset is shown to perfection in the little town of Bibury in the Coln Valley. Not all of Bibury 's houses are old, but all look old, and the architecture is of a piece.

If its special glories are the old mill and the row of tiny almshouse cottages preserved by the National Trust, it is the general homogeneity of the town which gives it a unique place in the English landscape. The Cotswolds stretch northwards to the boundaries of Worcestershire and Warwickshire. At their north-eastern end is the town of Moreton-in-the-Marsh , an important stage in Roman days on the great Fosse Way. Nearby is the most startling architectural feature in all Gloucestershire, the great house of Sezincote. Here, in the middle of English parkland, is an Eastern Hindu garden, complete with temple, surrounding a replica, perfect in every detail down to the zenana quarters, of an eighteenth century Indian noble's palace. The County Town - The City of Gloucester. Moving west out of the Cotswold country, you come to the city of Gloucester and the town of Cheltenham , the busy administrative centre and the tranquil residential spa. In Gloucester the affairs of the county are administered from the City Hall, and of the diocese from the Cathedral Close. The English county and cathedral town has an atmosphere all its own.

Here town and country seem to mingle, the influence of the latter barring the way to ugly industrialization. Gloucester is the scene of considerable industrial activity. There are engineering works and foundries and slate yards. There is the still busy river port, connected with the deep waters of the Severn estuary by the Gloucester Ship Canal. But some how these seem anachronisms, disturbing but not prevailing influences in the life of a city still dominated by its cathedral spire, its streets and houses still rich in the traditions of the past. Gloucester is the home, every third year, of the famous Three Choirs Festival, when the choirs of Gloucester , Worcester and Hereford Cathedrals unite to give an example of massed choral singing unrivalled in England, and probably anywhere else in the world. This Festival dates from 1724. Cheltenham is different. Its charm and atmosphere are solely residential. Its Regency crescents and squares, its wide, tree-lined promenades, tell of accumulated wealth disbursed in the autumn of life. Its comfortable hotels, its hideous, glass-domed Winter Garden, its wealthy-looking shops, denote a population whose active days are over.

The young in Cheltenham are to be found only in the famous boy's and girl's colleges and in the week of steeple-chasing when the Cheltenham Gold Cup is run! The Borough of Cheltenham witnessed, some time after Sir Walter Raleigh's great discovery, the first, and only serious attempt to grow tobacco commercially in England. The revenue authorities objected violently, sending a party of horsemen out from Gloucester to destroy the crop. But perhaps if the present shortage of cigarettes continues the attempt may be renewed under a more benevolent Governmental eye. Fine Panorama Six miles from Cheltenham is the great western spur of the Cotswolds known as Cleeve Hill. Here can be seen one of the finest panoramas in all England. Right and left are other Cotswold spurs. In front the land dips sharply and steeply to the wide-flowing Severn. Across the river lie water meadows and orchards, and in the far distance rise the blue and jagged outlines of the Malvern Hills. Descent into the Severn Valley - into the two Vales of Berkeley and Gloucester - brings a complete change of scenery.

Here is the southernmost extension of the great orchard lands of Worcestershire, a land of pears and apples - famous for the brew of pear cider known as perry - ablaze in early spring with white and pinkish blossom. It is a land, too, whose loam soil yields a rich pasturage for shorthorn cattle; the land of the double Gloucester cheese. Gone are the Cotswold stone walls and manor houses. Hedges and fences, and mellow brick buildings take their place. Forest of Dean But the Severn Valley here is narrow in width. And as, from the Vale of Berkeley , you cross the river westwards, there is another abrupt scenic change. The land rises sheer from the river bank to the plateau of the Forest of Dean , which stretches to the borders of Monmouthshire and the banks of the River Wye. Unlike Hampshire's New Forest and most of the other "forest" areas of England, the Forest of Dean retains a large measure its primeval aspect. It is an area of dense woodland and great trees, of small streams and scanty communications, a land where beauty and ugliness go hand in hand. For the Forest of Dean is not only a forest.

It is a mining area as well. Deep in the forest the mining villages are buried. One moment the vista is of sylvan beauty. Turn the corner, and the gaunt outline of the pithead, with squat cottages surrounding it, meets your eye. It is an area of small mines, which yield high-grade coal but, through high working costs, make even in good times small profits, and in other times no profit at all. The shadow of a depressed area hangs over the Forest. The inhabitants of the mining villages are socialists to a man, many of them bitter from many years on the borderline of poverty. It is hard to believe that Cannop, the largest of these mining communities and Cotswold Bibury are in the same county. In every aspect they are worlds apart. But just as the Cotswold country is unique in England, so is the combination of ancient forest and industrial toil and unparalleled ugliness. There is something of everything in Gloucestershire. Sweeping uplands and alluvial vales, cathedral city and famous spa, small market towns showing domestic architecture at its best, mining villages, England's two finest rivers, tributary trout streams and the abode of salmon on the River Wye.

And, lastly, there is the great industrial city of Bristol . A major port, a great industrial district, an important university centre, a city rich in old associations - such is the amalgam which is modern Bristol . Only London can claim an equal or greater diversity. Among provincial cities Bristol can fairly claim to be unique. As a trading centre Bristol is the headquarters of the tobacco, cocoa and chocolate trades. Industrially, the aeroplane works in the suburb of Filton have made the neighbourhood a key centre of the aircraft and aero-engine industries. The air is Bristol 's new development. The sea is her old stand-by. She has as old a seaport history as London, an older one by far than her modern rivals, Liverpool , Glasgow and Southampton .

The great docks at Avonmouth and Portishead (the latter in Somerset), joined to Bristol by rail and by eight miles of the finest motor road in the country, keep her relatively as important in the shipping world as she was when the Cabots sailed from Bristol in the ship Matthew in search of the "Island of Brazil," and found North America instead; or when, a century ago, the Great Western, one of the first steamships to cross the Atlantic under steam alone, started down the Bristol Channel. On the high ground to the north of the River Avon lie the fine buildings of Britol's University, its tower dominating the lower part of the city, presided over for seventeen years by Mr Churchill as Chancenllor. Here Britain's greatest war leader bestowed honorary degrees on the chief British and American military commanders in the struggle against Nazism. Nearby are the two Clifton Colleges, one for the boys and one for the girls. In the city's centre the old and the new are found in the closest juxtaposition.

In the midst of the biggest shopping and traffic districts, close to the modern railway termini, stands the Dutch House, which tradition relates was brought over piece by piece from Amsterdam in the reign of William of Orange, and which is certainly a close replica of the Dutch domestic architecture of that day. Near by is St Peter's Hospital, erected at the close of the Middle Ages, about 1500. Bristol has modern cinemas. It possesses also in its Theatre Royal the oldest playhouse in England. Built in 1766, it numbered for a while among its audiences the smart world of the day who, in restless search for new watering-places, lighted for a while on the medicinal springs in Clifton, making of it a fashionable resort. Bristol is no longer a glass of fashion. But it remains one of England's great meeting-places. It is pre-eminently the junction of the Midlands and the West Country, the point of contact from Plymouth and Birmingham , for the men of Cornwall and the citizens of the Black Country. Halt, late at night, in the echoing station of Temple Meads, and you feel you are on the border-land of two separate countries.

Pause for a weekend, and there is plenty for you to see in Bristol . The deep wooded cleft in the landscape formed by the Avon Gorge; the high-flung, slender Clifton Suspension Bridge - Brunel's masterpiece; the manifold activities of a busy city proud alike in its history and in the scars of many recent bombings. Bristol is not Gloucestershire. Nor is Gloucestershire dominated by Bristol . No part of the county, indeed, can lay claim to represent the whole. Its charm is no more solely the peaceful Cotswolds than its significance is the grim background to the Forest of Dean . There is no space to mention in detail all its features, but market towns such as Fairford or Winchcombe must be noticed alongside Bibury and Painswick . In Gothic churches and ancient monuments the county abounds.

Famous cricketers, great explorers, families whose roots go back deep into the Middle Ages; Shallow and Silence, the county justices of Gloucestershire orchard, the fashionables who flocked to Clifton or Cheltenham , the aircraft workers who stood steady under the rain of German bombs; the Cotswold pastures and the orchards of the vales, the broadening Severn and the infant Thames - all these are part of Gloucestershire. They are part of England, too. They could not belong to any other country in the world. [Your user agent does not support frames or is currently configured not to display frames.] The books displayed above are returned using the search terms 'Gloucestershire'. *If nothing is found relating to these terms Amazon will display a selection of books from the general Best Seller list. Selected UK Retailers Gloucestershire | County-Wise Gloucestershire Gloucestershire Gloucester is a large county stretching, west to east, from the Welsh border to Berkshire and, south to north, from Somerset to Warwickshire. It is split by the Severn on which sits the City of Gloucester. Gloucestershire has three distinct parts.

The best known part is the Cotswold Hills, which cover the east of the county, and spread also into Oxfordshire. The Cotswolds are famed for the beauty of their villages and the landscape. The Cotswolds remain a wealthy sheep-farming region. Locally quarried Cotswold stone is used ubiquitously throughout the Cotswolds, producing picture-postcard, honey coloured towns and villages. The Severn Vale by contrast is flat and shaped by the great river. Gloucester though apparantly inland is a port relying on the river, while further north is historic Tewkesbury, on a slight rise in the flat Vale from which it has looked down on the cruel Severn floods. The Severn is dotted with picturesque villages. West of the Severn is the Forest of Dean, reaching out as far as the exquisite Wye valley on the borders of Herefordshire and Monmouthshire. Bristol lies astride the Avon (which forms the border with Somerset). It is the great city of the Southwest, spreading with its suburbs in each direction.

County Facts Shakespeare’s Stratford-upon-Avon River Walk | Warwickshire Walks | Walking Guide The Walks » Warwickshire Walks » Shakespeare’s Stratford-upon-Avon River Walk Shakespeare’s Stratford-upon-Avon River Walk Mobile friendly version Warwickshire is a county in the West Midlands and the county town is Warwick although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is divided into five districts of North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Rugby, Warwick and Stratford-upon-Avon which is a historical hotspot with a variety of mediaeval and Georgian market towns along with two famous castles at Kenilworth and Warwick. The River Avon flows through the wonderful rolling countryside and to the south lies the beautiful landscapes of the Cotswolds. Whilst the south of the county is largely rural and sparsely populated, including a small area of the Cotswolds, the majority of Warwickshire’s population live mostly in the north and central areas. The only town in the south is Shipston-on-Stour which is the highest point in the county at 261 metres (856 ft). The county is also famous for being the birth place of William Shakespeare and George Eliot.

Stratford-upon-Avon is a wonderful thriving town situated on the banks of the River Avon and known internationally as the birth place of William Shakespeare and home to the Royal Shakespeare Company. Stratford-upon-Avon, set in the beautiful rural Warwickshire countryside, is a very busy town and popular tourist destination steeped in culture and history. The town’s layout is based on a medieval cross system therefore is very easy to wander around without getting lost. There are five historic houses linked to William Shakespeare’s life which are owned and cared for by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, they include Hall’s Croft, Nash’s House, New Place, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and Mary Arden’s House. William Shakespeare born in Henley Street in 1564 was regarded as the greatest English poet and playwright in the English language. At the age of 18 he married Anne Hathaway with whom he had three children and her cottage is located at Shottery on the edge of Stratford. There are also a host of other attractions and sightseeing tours including the town centres main streets, the museum, Falstaff’s Experience, Butterfly Farm and Jungle Safari, plus walking and cycling routes.

The River Avon which flows through the middle of the town and the connecting Stratford Canal offers a ferry service, river cruises, boat hire and boating holidays. Known for its culture and diverse range of events Stratford provides an annual calendar of activity for all the family. Stratford-upon-Avon is close to the Cotswolds and the Cotswolds were a major sheep producing area and up until the late 19th century regarded Stratford as one of its main centres for the processing, marketing and distribution of sheep and wool. Therefore Stratford also became a centre for tanning during the 15th to 17th centuries using the river and the Roman road as trade routes for the town. The Cotswolds are a range of hills covering an area of 25 miles across and 90 miles long and lie mainly within the counties of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire but extend into parts of Wiltshire, Somerset, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The spine of the Cotswolds runs southwest to northeast through the six counties particularly Gloucestershire, west Oxfordshire and south western Warwickshire.

The Cotswolds have been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is the largest AONB in England and Wales. The northern and western edges of the Cotswolds are marked by steep escarpments down to the Severn Valley and the Warwickshire Avon and this escarpment is often called the Cotswolds Edge. On the eastern boundary lies the city of Oxford and on the west is Stroud. To the southeast the upper reaches of the Thames Valley and towns such as Lechlade, Tetbury and Fairford mark the limit of this region and to the south the boundary reaches beyond Bath and towns such as Chipping Sodbury and Marshfield. The Cotswolds are characterised by attractive small towns and villages built of the underlying Cotswold stone, a yellow limestone, and drystone walls many built in the 18th and 19th centuries can be seen everywhere in the fields. The most well known towns or villages are Bourton-on-the-Water, Broadway, Burford, Chipping Norton, Cirencester, Moreton-in-Marsh, Northleach, Stow-on-the-Wold, Stroud and Winchcombe.

During the 13th – 15th centuries the native Cotswold sheep were famous throughout Europe for their heavy fleeces and high quality of wool. Cotswold wool came at a high price and the wealth generated by the wool trade enabled wealthy traders to leave their mark by building fine houses and beautiful churches, known as “wool churches”. Today the sight of the sheep on the hillside is still one of the most common features of the Cotswolds. The Stratford and Moreton Tramway was a 16 mile long horse-drawn wagon way from the canal basin to Moreton-in-Marsh with a branch to Shipston-on-Stour. The tramway, completed in 1826, was intended to carry Black Country coal to the rural districts of southern Warwickshire via the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal and limestone and agricultural produce northwards. The line was used as a horse-drawn tramway for several decades, but did not prosper. In 1851 the tramway between Moreton and Stratford began to experiment with steam trains after the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway opened through Moreton-in-Marsh.

The branch line between Stratford and Shipston continued to be used as a horse-drawn line carrying lime until the 1880’s when it fell into disuse. The tracks were lifted in 1918 and abandoned in 1926 exactly 100 years after it opened. The tramway bridge across the River Avon at Stratford remains in use by pedestrians. The River Avon also known as the Warwickshire Avon or Shakespeare’s Avon has been divided since 1719 into the Lower Avon below Evesham and the Upper Avon from Evesham to above Stratford-upon-Avon. The river is 85 miles long and adjoins the counties of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. The Lower Avon is navigable from Alveston weir which is 2 miles upstream of Stratford-upon-Avon and downstream to Tewkesbury and the River Severn by the construction of locks and weirs.

The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal links to the River Avon through a lock in the park in front of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and both are part of the Avon Ring a circular cruising route which is 109 miles long and includes 129 locks. The river and lock are now mainly used for leisure activities. Shakespeare’s Avon Way is a long distance footpath following the course of the River Avon as closely as possible using existing public footpaths, bridleways and a few minor roads. The 88 mile long footpath starts at the River Avon’s source at Naseby in Northamptonshire and ends at the rivers confluence with the River Severn at Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire. The path is well marked with white arrows with Shakespeare’s head or green discs with river symbol and his name on. Monarch’s Way is also a long distance footpath more or less following the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester. The route is 615 miles long and marked with yellow discs with a ship “The Surprise”, the Prince of Wales crown and the Royal Oak tree at Boscobel House.

Starting at Powick Bridge at Worcester the path runs north to Boscobel then south to Stratford-upon-Avon continues south to Stow-on-the-Wold before turning south west to Cirencester and Bristol. It then heads south across the Mendip Hills to Wells then on through Somerset and then south west to Charmouth where there is a short section along the Dorset coast before turning north to Yeovil then turns east across the Downs to Brighton and Shoreham-by-Sea. The Walk From the car park we take a small tour of the town then make our way to the Tourist Information Centre and cross the road down Waterside to the gardens, canal and river. We cross over the canal bridge then turn right over the tramway bridge then immediately right and follow the river on our right through the park area passing the band stand on our left and the ferry crossing on our right we can see the church steeple in the distance. We keep heading forwards following the river past the church on the right then take a look at the lock also on the right. We keep to the river path passing two weirs then go under the road bridge on the Shakespeare’s Avon Way and soon come to another lock and weir.

We head forwards up some steps and through the fields until we come to an iron bridge on the old railway line. We go under the railway line then turn immediate left and head forwards to cross a bridge over the River Stour and then turn left again still following the old railway line for a short way. We then turn right back towards the River Avon. We turn left over a little footbridge and follow the river to Luddington Lock. We then bear left and follow the path to a track sign posted Public Bridleway. We turn left and follow the track turning right at the buildings then left onto the old railway line and Monarch’s Way. We follow the line back to the iron bridge cross over the race course is on our left and take the path on the right opposite a seat and follow the river on our right, still on the Monarch’s Way. We go back under the road bridge and follow the path to the church. We go through the church yard. On leaving the church yard we head forwards for a very short way then take the footpath on the right through a gate. We make our way across the park area back to the river and follow the river back to where we started at the canal.

We then make our way back to the car park. Terrain This is an easy flat walk, with only one gradient, on good tracks and paths and also through some grass fields. Elevation: Approx lowest point 32.9m (108ft). Approx highest point 51.5m (169ft) Distance and Start Point Approx 8 miles allow 2 hours 45 minutes using OS Explorer Map 205, Stratford-upon-Avon & Evesham Alcester. Location Tewkesbury | Revolutionary Players Image: Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire from the Upper Lake. “By the tortuous windings of the Severn, the large, respectable, and populous town of Tewkesbury is about seven miles south-east from Upton, and thirteen or fourteen miles northeast from Gloucester…It is delightfully situated in the vale of Evesham, on the eastern side of the Upper or Warwickshire Avon, near the confluence of that river with the Severn, and between the Carron and Swilgate streams, which flow into the Avon; the former above, and the latter a little below the town.

Thus nearly surrounded by water, it is entered from different points by three bridges; the chief of which, over the Avon, from the Mythe to Tewkesbury Quay, was constructed of iron in the autumn of the year 1822….At present, the manufacture of nails, of cotton stockings, and the business of malting, are the chief sources of wealth and employment, in this town.” Harral, vol. 2, p 118, 130

Question: Which Gloucestershire town sits on the confluence of the Severn and Warwickshire Avon?
Answer: TEWKESBURY