We come this week to the first of the counties whose names end in ‘cestershire' so a brief note about pronunciation might be in order. The ‘cester' or ‘chester' in the names of English towns and cities indicates that they were once Roman garrison towns - Colchester, Manchester, Leicester and so on, including Gloucester. If the names includes the ‘h', eg Rochester, it is pronounced as written. However, in other cases such as Gloucester and Worcester, the ‘ce' is silent and the name is pronounced Gloster, Wooster etcetera.
Although Berkshire is normally the county referred to as ‘Royal', Gloucestershire could also lay claim to the appellation as both the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal have homes in the county.
The county lies astride the River Severn and the low-lying areas along the river, including the historic abbey town of Tewkesbury, were subject to the worst ever flooding in England in 2007. Cheltenham is known for its Georgian architecture, the Cheltenham Ladies College, and its race course which features the Cheltenham Festival and the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The late Queen Mother was a keen visitor to the races here and when she passed through the village/suburb of Prestbury the owner of the village store always presented her with a box of chocolates.
Tewkesbury, Cheltenham and the city of Gloucester are all worth visiting, but the main attraction for tourists is the range of hills known as the Cotswolds. Here you will find villages tucked into valleys, the houses built from the local honey-coloured stone: Naunton, Upper and Lower Slaughter, Broadway, Bourton-on-the-Water all have people claiming them as the prettiest village in England, but our picture this week is of another Cotswold village - Bibury.
No comments:
Post a Comment