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Summer is a great time to get closer to nature, and there are few places better-placed to do this than the Cotswolds. Whether you’re keen to hang out with bats, spot an otter or see sights beloved of a literary legend, here’s our guide to some of the best places to visit over the coming months.
No fewer than 1,000 bats occupy Woodchester Mansion over the summer, including endangered greater and lesser horseshoes, both of which have maternity roosts at the unfinished Victorian building. Their presence means that the building and area around it are classed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The Woodchester Mansion Trust holds special ‘bat experience evenings’, limited to 15 people, during which it’s possible to learn more about these special occupants.
This all-weather event starts with a tour of the mansion and a visit to the Roger Ransome Bat Observatory, where state-of-the-art cameras give a close up view of daytime activity.
Then, as dusk falls, the bats fly through the corridors and Gothic chapel of the mansion before going outside to forage, with visitors able to track their movements with hand-held detectors.
The bat experience evenings are led by knowledgeable guides and take place on June 20 and 27, July 11 and 25, August 15 and September 5. The cost of the evening is £30 and participants are informed of timings when they book, which must be done in advance. Parking is at the Woodchester Park National Trust Car Park, with a £3 for non-members, and there’s a 15 minute walk to and from the mansion, for which a torch is advised.
For more information visit: https://www.woodchestermansion.org.uk/bat-experiences
The return of the large blue butterfly to the Cotswolds is a triumph for nature conservation in the area. Take a trip to Daneway Banks near Sapperton on a sunny day between the end of June and the first days of August for a chance of spotting these beautiful insects flying around one metre above the ground. Daneway Banks is a steep-sided area of unimproved grassland where wild thyme and marjoram grow, both essential to the life cycle of the large blue. The site also hosts a number of other butterflies drawn to the wildflowers that grow there. The nature reserve is looked after by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, which worked with the Royal Entomological Society to reintroduce the once extinct large blue in England.
Find out more by visiting: https://www.gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk/nature-reserves/daneway-banks
See the birds and other creatures at the WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre from a different angle by taking part in a canoe safari. The kilometre-long route through channels surrounded by reed beds and overhanging trees is a great way for families and friends to relax and look for wildlife. From dragonflies and kingfishers to reed warblers, ducks, swans and possibly even water voles, it’s an adventurous way to experience the centre. WWT Slimbridge’s canoe safaris are great for explorers from the age of three and above. Each canoe seats three and should contain at least one adult. The sessions last for an hour and are weather dependent, which means they can’t be pre-booked. One-person coracles are also available for adults to hire.
Learn more: https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/slimbridge/experience/canoe-safari
From bee orchids and carline thistles to buttercups, yarrow, harebells and dandelions, Stroud’s commons are spangled with more than 100 different wildflowers and grasses during the summer months.
The unimproved limestone grasslands at Minchinhampton, Rodborough and Selsley Commons are perfect for spotting beautiful blooms. And we’re not the only ones to appreciate this multi-coloured spectacle, with more than 30 types of butterflies being drawn to these nectar-rich flowers, including the Duke of Burgundy, Adonis blue and green hairstreak.
Add the blissful song of the skylark and the gentle munching of free-roaming cows, not to mention the opportunity to pick up an ice cream cornet at Winstone’s, and it’s clear all the ingredients are present for an unforgettable summer’s day.
The wildlife on Rodborough Common is so spectacular that this stretch of grassland has been deemed a Special Area of Scientific Interest.
Find out more about the summer highlights at the Stroud Commons: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/gloucestershire-cotswolds/minchinhampton-and-rodborough-commons/explore-minchinhampton-and-rodborough-commons
Enjoy wonderful views, wildflowers and cooling woodlands by walking in the footsteps of Slad’s most famous son. The Slad Valley was made famous by Laurie Lee’s novel Cider with Rosie and much of its rugged landscape remains unchanged from the days when he roamed its footpaths. Follow the Laurie Lee Wildlife Way, produced by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, for an unforgettable route that takes in the landmark Swifts Hill, on which there are no fewer than 13 different orchids; Frith Wood and Snows Farm. Look out for poetry posts scattered along the route, bearing some of Laurie Lee’s verses inspired by the natural world. Make a slight diversion during your walk to call in to The Woolpack for a cooling beer, and pay your respects to the writer, who is buried across the road.
Download the Laurie Lee Wildlife Way: https://gloswildlife.myshopify.com/collections/maps-leaflets
Fascinating fossils
For a glimpse of life in and around the Cotswolds millions of years ago, head for Hock Cliff on the banks of the River Severn.
Thick bands of limestone and soft shale were left behind by the shallow seaways that once covered the area during the Jurassic period, which occurred between 201.3 million to 145 million years ago.
The River Severn often washes fossils such as ammonites, belemnites, ‘devil’s toenails’ and other shells from the cliff and deposits them on the rocky foreshore beneath. Caution is recommended when visiting this Site of Special Scientific Interest as the rocks can be slippery and there are mudflats. Do not go there when a Severn Bore is due. Using hammers on the bedrock is prohibited. Children under 18 should be supervised by an adult.
Hock Cliff is located near Fretherne. Go through the village, passing the church, after which a footpath can be seen on the left. Follow this path to the left to reach the foreshore. If driving, park responsibly.
The Cotswolds is dotted with ancient trees, many of which have stood for hundreds of years.
Among the most famous are the yews that flank the north door at St Edward’s Church in Stow on the Wold, which were planted as saplings some 300 years ago and are thought to be the inspiration for the Doors of Durin, the west gate of Moira in JRR Tolkein’s The Fellowship of the Ring, part of The Lord of the Rings.
When it comes to survivors, the elms at Upper Swell deserve special merit for weathering the catastrophic outbreak of Dutch Elm Disease of the 1970s. These stately trees were famously painted by Sir Alfred East (1844-1913) in Autumn in Gloucestershire.
Lodge Park and the Sherborne Estate, managed by the National Trust, have no fewer than 1,008 ancient trees, including beech, ash, lime, oak and hawthorn.
Ancient beech pollards can be found at Crickley Country Park, there’s a sweet chestnut thought to be at least 600 years old close to the Church of St Leonard’s at Tortworth, and there are stunning ancient ash trees and a walking horse chestnut at Dyrham Park, near Bath.
Find more ancient trees in the Cotswolds by visiting The Woodland Trust’s Ancient Tree Inventory: https://ati.woodlandtrust.org.uk
Otters have been making a comeback across the Cotswolds, appearing in watery spots such as rivers and former gravel pits.
Grey and damp days offer the best chance of seeing these swimming mammals, which are largely nocturnal.
Otters’ diets include fish, amphibians and water birds, along with the signal crayfish, an invasive species from America which has wrecked populations of native white-clawed crayfish.
Otters raise their cubs in underground burrows known as ‘holts’, which they position in out-of-the-way places such as under tree roots and along river banks.
Usually their presence on a particularly waterway is given away by their five-toed footprints and droppings, known as ‘spraints’, which they leave in prominent places such as by bridges and fallen trees.
Keep your eyes peeled at the Cotswold Waterpark and along stretches of the Thames and Severn Canal near Sapperton and Frampton Mansell, the Stroudwater Canal and the lake at Woodchester Park, along with various rivers across the region.
Gaze at the stars
Low levels of light pollution across vast swathes of the Cotswolds makes the region a great place for stargazing.
In fact, the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England rates parts of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to be among some of the darkest skies in the country.
Look for Orion, with the distinctive three diagonal stars said to denote the ‘belt’ of the ill-fated mythical hunter; the saucepan-shaped grouping of seven stars known as The Plough, Ursa Minor or the Great Bear, and the lute-shaped Lyra.
Great spots for stargazing include Painswick Beacon and Frocester Hill, both near Stroud, and Nottingham Hill near Bishops Cleeve, which looks out across the Severn Valley. The International Dark Sky Association rates Aunt Phoebe’s Recreation Ground in Long Compton, gifted to the village by Mrs Burnett of the Red Lion pub in 1930, and the Rollright Stones near Chipping Norton.
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