The Cotswolds

I know this trip it taking forever to blog and I thank you for hanging in there but it is by far one of the best holidays ever! I know it is thanks to my friends Terry and Keith who planned our travels, did all the driving, and showed us the best England has to offer. Ok, back to the program...the Cotswolds are a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the "Heart of England", an area 25 miles across and 90 miles long. The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The highest point in the Cotswolds range is Cleeve Hill at 1,083 ft, 2.5 miles to the north of Cheltenham. The Cotswolds lie mainly within the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, but extend into parts of Wiltshire, Somerset, Worcestershire and Warwickshire.
The area is characterised by attractive small towns and villages built of the underlying Cotswold stone (a yellow oolitic limestone). This limestone is rich in fossils, in particular fossilised sea urchins. In the Middle Ages the wool trade made the Cotswolds prosperous. Some of this money was put into the building of churches so the area has a number of large handsome Cotswold stone "wool churches". The area remains affluent and has attracted wealthy people who own second homes in the area or have chosen to retire there.