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This has to be one of the nicest places in Britain, delightful little villages of honey-coloured stone and beautiful valleys.
We started at The Devil's Chimney on Leckhampton Hill, overlooking Cheltenham, high above the B4070 to the south of Cheltenham. The Devil is said to be buried under the rock which is why it alone has never been quarried from the hillside. It's just one of the stories for which the Cotswold area is famous.
Myths and legends surround Morris Dancing or Moorish Dancing mainly because any record of what it's all about has been lost. We do know that it has been around for a very long time and is mentioned as far back as the 14th century. The Morris men and women we met in the delightful village of Painswick south of Gloucester on the A46 were banging sticks and waving hankies which probably has something to do with scaring off the devil and waving hello to fertility.
Painswick Church is quite remarkable. In its grounds are 99 Yew trees, the devil is said to have stopped the 100th from growing, and each year in mid-September the congregation join hands around the outside of the church whilst clippings are taken from the trees.
There are an extraordinary number of churches in the area and some of the finest examples are known as Wool Churches. In Northleach the Wool Church is huge, far too big for the small town, but Cotswold used to be the centre for Britain's best wool, and Britain was ahead of all Europe for wool, so the wool traders of the Cotswold made a pretty penny or two. It was the fashion to give some of that money to the local church for building improvements.
Sudeley Castle in Winchcombe on the B4632 has had an importance since Ethelred the Unready in the early 11th century. The present castle dates from the mid-15th century. The last wife of Henry VIII, Katherine Parr, moved her court to Sudeley when she remarried to Sir Thomas Seymour and is buried in the adjacent St Mary's chapel. Cromwell's boys desecrated the chapel and did extensive damage to the castle itself.
Belas Knapp is a stone age burial mound high above Sudeley Castle. Follow the signs from the centre of Winchcombe, but be warned it is a very steep climb from the car park to the Knapp.
We stayed the night at The White Heart Royal Hotel in Moreton-in-Marsh on the Roman road, 'Foss Way' (the A429). King Charles I stayed here 351 years ago which is why it is the only White Heart 'Royal' in the country. Privately owned by a wonderful chap this is a smashing hotel in a perfect situation for seeing the rest of the Cotswolds. Moreton itself has a Curfew tower on the corner of Oxford Street where it has been for 400 years. Curfew is Norman for 'cover fire'. A bell would ring from the tower instructing the townsfolk to cover fire for the night. The bell was rung in Moreton until 1860.
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