England - Heart of England

From the rolling hills of the Cotswolds to the top-class cultural and shopping facilities of Birmingham, the Heart of England has a great deal to offer.  Oxford has its own special history and style;  Stratford-on-Avon lies at the centre of the Shakespeare country;  and the border country of Hereford and Shropshire contains some of the most beautiful scenery in the land

GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Visitors to the county have, for generations, been particularly enchanted by the Cotswolds – shared with Oxfordshire.  Honey-coloured limestone towns and villages such as Chipping Camden, Stow-on-the-Wold, and Bourton-on-Water date back to the wealth of the medieval wool trade.   Down in the Severn Valley lie the handsome cathedral cities of Gloucester and Tewkesbury , heritage sites such as  Berkeley Castle, and the royal residences of Highgrove and Gatcombe Park.   The regency spa town of Cheltenham offers two notable National Trust sites: the Gustav Holst Birthplace Museum and the Pittville Pump Room.  The numerous farmers` markets in the area are great places to buy high-class local specialities -  and an abundance of events throughout the year provides generously for those interested in the arts and crafts.

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
Between the Midlands and London, Buckinghamshire offers the high chalk country of the Chiltern Hills and the rich agricultural lands along the winding course of the  River Thames – as well as close proximity to the capital itself.    Take in the affluent towns of Marlow, Aylesbury, Old Amersham, Chalfont St Giles,  Chalfont St Peter,  and Great Missenden – the latter with the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre.   History lovers have a great deal to choose from.  The county boasts the highest number of National Trust sites in the country, these including Hughenden Manor,  Waddesdon Manor, and Clivedon Manor now best known for its associations with the Profumo scandal of 1961.

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
A relatively peaceful county, somewhat off the normal tourist beat,  Northamptonshire offers an interesting mix of  market towns, charming villages, and stately homes – most notably, perhaps, Althorp, the home of the Spencer family since 1508 and burial place of Diana Princess of Wales.   The city of Northampton has fine churches, a flamboyant town hall, and an art gallery and museum sporting Queen Victoria`s wedding shoes.  Explore too the extensive network of canals and other waterways - and try your hand at the local trout and carp fisheries.   Overall, a fine county for simple outdoor pursuits.

LEICESTERSHIRE
The city of Leicester offers a cathedral dating back to Norman times, good museums, a university, an array of modern shops, and  - with its ethnically diverse population - some of the best curry houses in Britain.   Beyond the city lies fine, unspoilt countryside – in the east, an extension of the Cotswold limestone belt.  There is also a National Forest with miles of nature trails.  Discover hidden corners on the 100-mile Leicestershire Round walking trail.   Take in Bradgate, one of the Midlands` largest country parks, or hire a narrow-boat along one of the county`s waterways.  Rutlandshire – independent again after  many years as part of Leicestershire, and England`s smallest county - is also well worth a visit for its fine open scenery, handsome stone villages, and the attractive main town of Oakham.

DERBYSHIRE & THE PEAK DISTRICT
The Peak District offers some breathtaking countryside – a hikers pardise, with extensive walking trails and beautiful uplands rising to Kinder Scout (2,082 feet), Axe Edge, and Mam Tor.  The limestone that comprises most of the local geology offers an array of underground caves – the Devils Hole near Castleton penetrating 750m yards.   Bakewell, Buxton, and Matlock are deservedly  popular centres.  Chatsworth, home of the Dukes of Devonshire, is one of the most palatial of English country houses.  Derby itself dates back to medieval times, and was famous more recently for its silk, hosiery, and porcelain trades.  It has an interesting, mainly 18th-century cathedral, and a fine museum, with one room commemorating the advance of Bonnie Prince Charlie to Derby  during the 1745 rebellion.   The county is rich in music festivals and other cultural activities;  and in a number of towns and villages between May and September visitors can view the special local custom of "well-dressing".

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
From  Robin Hood to international designer Paul Smith, Nottinghamshire has produced many a well-known name.   Discover the origins of the Pilgrim Fathers with the Mayflower Trail, and let your imagination roam free among the ancient timbers of Sherwood Forest.    Splendid country houses such as Serlby Hall and Thoresbury Park lie in the renowned `Dukeries`, and numerous market towns offer an array of antiques and other speciality shops.   Nottingham, a university city on the banks of the Trent – the traditional dividing line between northern and southern England – offers good shopping, theatres, a museum and art gallery, cricket at Trent Bridge, and horse-racing at the Nottingham Racecourse.

THE WEST MIDLANDS
Birmingham is the West Midlands` main urban attraction - a shopper`s dream with boutique and designer stores like the Mailbox and Selfridges at the Bullring.  There are some fantastic places to eat, and some major international events throughout the year. For the arts visit the City Museum and Art Gallery, the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, the Thinktank, and , in season, the magnificent new Symphony Hall, home to the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

OXFORDSHIRE
A county of considerable natural beauty, stretching from the limestone Cotswolds in the north to the chalk  White Horse Hills in the south,  with the meandering valley of the upper Thames  lying in between.     Oxford, with the remarkable architecture of its medieval colleges, the Radcliffe Camera, the Sheldonian Theatre, and the ancient university church of St Mary the Virgin,  needs little introduction.  Museums such as the Ashmolean and galleries such as Modern Art in Oxford are a must visit.  Of course there is the many colleges including Magdalen College which is open to the public with it deer park and choir.  For those interested in literacy take in Blackwells Bookshop which offers literacy tours of Oxford.  Also great for shopping  including the under cover market in Oxfords centre.   And just a few miles down the road is the popular designer shopping outlet, Bicester Village.  Eat at one of the many gastro pubs in the very pretty surrounding villages.

WARWICKSHIRE
A county rich in lovely countryside, Warwickshire is also notable for its variety of attractive urban centres:  Warwick, the county town, with its spectacular turreted castle;  Kenilworth nearby and its atmospheric medieval ruins;  Coventry with its modern cathedral, containing a huge Graham Sutherland tapestry of Christ;  Leamington Spa and its fine gardens and Georgian architecture; the attractive market town of Alcester,  and, of course, Stratford-on-Avon with all its Shakespeare associations and magnificent live theatres.   The sparsely populated south of the county includes a small portion of the Cotswolds, with Ebrington Hill reaching a height of 856 feet.   The county boasts a large number of fine houses and gardens – among them, Arbury Hall, in one of whose estate farms George Eliot was born in 1819;  the Tudor-period Compton Wynyates with its topiary gardens;  and the 17th century Ragley Hall.   As a prosperous part of the country, with a lively tourist trade, Warwickshire boasts a wide range of quality shopping, good restaurants, and a variety of other commercial attractions. 

WORCESTERSHIRE
This largely lowland county along the banks of the Severn has, in the Malverns, an area of outstandingly beautiful hill country – rising sharply in a long north-south rampart to the west.  Views from the paths along its 18 named peaks, the highest reaching just over 400 metres, are spectacular.  Great Malvern lies on the eastern slopes, and was a celebrated spa town in Victorian times.  Nearby are the 11th-century Malvern Priory and the Malvern Museum of Local History.  The county town, Worcester, offers a majestic cathedral towering high above the Severn and containing England`s largest Norman crypt as well as the remains of England`s `bad` King John.  The splendid Royal Worcester Porcelain factory sports an extensive visitor complex.  Music-lovers will want to see the Elgar Birthplace Museum at Lower Broadheath – partly housed in the cottage where the composer was born.  Worcester itself hosts an annual Elgar festival.  Among a host of smaller market towns, Pershore, Evesham, Droitwich Spa, and Tenbury Wells, are well worth a visit – as is the honey-stoned village of Broadway on the edge of the Cotswolds.   Notable homes and gardens include the William & Mary period Hanbury Hall near Droitwich and the early-19th-century Spetchley Park near Worcester – much frequented for its extensive deerpark and wildfowl lake.

STAFFORDSHIRE
Despite its location between the sprawling industrial areas of Manchester and Birmingham, Staffordshire is a county of considerable natural beauty, offering the visitor a mix of attractions from the open expanses of Cannock Chase in the south and part of the Peak District in the north to the old city of Lichfield and the famous industrial town of Stoke-on-Trent.  There are also the half-timbered delights of Little Moreton Hall near Congleton, and the white-knuckle excitements of Alton Towers – Britain`s most frequented theme park.  Lichfield has a splendid cathedral, the Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum, and the Erasmus (Charles`s father) Darwin Centre.  Stoke-on-Trent, of course, is the historic centre of the pottery trade.  People with an interest in Stoke`s industrial history will wish to visit the Wedgwood Visitor Centre, the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, and the Gladstone Pottery Museum.  Other major towns include Burton-upon-Trent, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Cannock, Tamworth, and Stafford itself.  Surprisingly, perhaps, the county boasts the highest village in Britain – Flash, standing on the Staffordshire Moors at 1,518 feet.  In the vicinity of Stoke lies the Victorian mansion of Biddulph Grange, its gardens recently described as `one of the most extraordinary` in country, containing `whole continents, including China and Ancient Egypt – not to mention Italian terraces and a Scottish glen`. 

SHROPSHIRE
Another western border county, rivalling its southern neighbour Herefordshire for beautiful mature countryside and handsome old towns and villages.  The county town, Shrewsbury, on a bend in the Severn, boasts a large-scale survival of well-tended Tudor and Jacobean houses and the splendid red-sandstone pile of Shrewsbury Abbey.  Nearby stands the magnificent Attingham Park, with landscaped gardens and lovely paths along the River Tern.  Ludlow, in the south of the county, with its Norman castle and array of half-timbered houses and hotels, is considered by some to be the loveliest town in England – an achievement matched by its culinary fame as a place with more Michelin stars per head than anywhere other than Paris.  Also well worth visiting are the pretty towns of Much Wenlock, Church Stretton, and Bishop`s Castle.   Walkers and country lovers will discover an abundance of open-air delights in the Clee Hills, the Long Mynd, and Wenlock Edge.  As an essentially rural county, Shropshire offers an abundance of fine produce to stock the local restaurants. 

HEREFORDSHIRE
A wonderful border county of rural landscapes, cider-apple orchards, and half-timbered villages – the most striking of these settlements comprising of the 40-mile Black & White Village Trail.  Hereford stands on the River Wye just above its junction with the Severn, and its fine cathedral plays regular host, with Worcester and Gloucester cathedrals, to the celebrated Three Choirs Festival.  Smaller towns of great appeal include Ledbury, Leominster, and Ross-on-Wye, and walkers will be attracted to the 107-mile Wye Valley Walk, beginning in Wales and extending upstream into the beauties of the Herefordshire countryside.  Fine houses and gardens abound, among them  Henry Holland`s 18th-century Berrington Hall;  the early 19th-century Eastmore Castle;  Eye Manor, notable for its remarkable plaster work;  the castellated Hampton Court and the former Cistercian establishment of  Dore Abbey.