Gloucestershire

When the Romans began their invasion of these islands in AD 43 they may have been slightly unnerved by the sight of the early Britons decorated, as they were, with blue dye. This colouring was obtained from the leaves of the wild woad plant, a relative of the wallflower. Presumably the plant was plentiful in the past as it continued to be a source of dve. and was used as such, until the sixteenth century. It still grows wild on the cliffs of the Severn Valley in Gloucestershire. where an old saying has it that 'to scratch Gloucestershire is to find Rome'. It would be even more accurate to replace 'Rome' with 'ancient Britain' for it was in the western part of the county, across the river Severn, that the Silures, a warlike tribe, put up some of the fiercest resistance that the Romans were to encounter in their conquest. No doubt some of those tribesmen collected their leaves from these very same cliffs we see today, before they went into battle.

The Severn effectively cut the county into two parts for many years, and it was not until the magnificent new bridge was opened in 1966 that the two parts of Gloucestershire were within easy access of one another. Amongst many other benefits it meant that people living in the southern part of the county could more easily visit the lovely Forest of Dean, known until 1300 as the 'King's hunting ground in Gloucestershire'. The forest occupies an area of some ten miles in length by eight wide and is said to contain over twenty million trees! The Foresters, as the people who live in it are known, still have the right to exercise the privileges of grazing their sheep, digging their coal and cutting stone which were granted to them centuries ago.

England is a land liberally endowed with both quaint churches and magnificent cathedrals. Because of the immense size and grandeur of the cachedrals it is sometimes easy to admire their architecture, and marvel at the history, contained in them, and then to dismiss them as 'religious museums'. In fact this would be very, \wide of the truth. Most of them, in addition to being regular places of worship, have strong connections with education, particularly in the training of musicians, and many of them offer scholarships to universities through their schools. Typical of these is Gloucester Cathedral, which started life as an Abbey, founded in 681, and became a cathedral in 1541. The Three Choirs Festival takes place here and it is a recognised centre of the arts, as well as containing the second largest medieval stained glass window in the country.

Gloucestershire is a county with a strong sporting tradition. Whether it is true or not that the game of Badminton was invented at the home of the Duke of Beaufort as an indoor alternative to tennis, because of the bad weather, it is certainly true that the county is the home of nine pin bowling, the original game of skittles, and it is still played all over Gloucestershire.

Gloucestershire Hotels

Gloucestershire County Council - Shire Hall, Westgate Street, Gloucester, GL1 2TG Tel: +44 (0) 1452 425 000
Alveston House Hotel - Alveston, Thornbury, Alveston, Bristol. BS35 2LA
Swan Hotel - Bibury Gloucestershire GL7 5NW Tel: +44 (0)1285 740 695 Fax: +44 (0)1285 740 475
Dial House Hotel - The Chestnuts Bourton-on-the-Water Gloucestershire GL54 2AN Tel: +44 (0)1451 822 244 Fax: +44 (0)1451 810 126
Buckland Manor - Buckland Broadway Gloucestershire WR12 7LY Tel: +44 (0)1386 852 626 Fax: +44 (0)1386 853 557
Alias Hotel Kandinsky - Bayshill Road Cheltenham Gloucestershire GL50 3AS
Charlton Kings Hotel - London Road Charlton Kings Cheltenham Gloucestershire GL52 6UU Tel: +44 (0) 1242 231061 Fax: +44 (0) 1242 241900
Cheltenham Park Hotel - Cheltenham Gloucestershire
Prestbury House Hotel - The Burgage Prestbury Cheltenham Gloucestershire GL52 3DN Tel: +44 (0)1242 529 533 Fax: +44 (0)1242 227 076
Noel Arms Hotel - High Street Chipping Campden Gloucestershire GL55 6AT
The Kings Hotel - The Square Chipping Campden Gloucestershire GL55 6AW Tel: +44 (0) 1386 840256 Fax: +44 (0) 1386 841598