Stow-On-The-Wold

There's a rhyme about Stow-on-the-Wold: "Stow-on-the-Wold where the wind blows cold." It's not wrong. Sitting at 800 feet above sea level the highest of all the Cotswold towns. Stow gets weather that the valley villages don't, and on a grey November morning with the wind coming across the wolds it can feel genuinely bleak. And then you duck into the Porch House and order something hot, and you remember exactly why you live here.

The Porch House claims to be the oldest inn in Britain. Part of the building dates to 947 AD the wooden beams have been carbon-dated and there's a 16th-century stone fireplace in the dining room carved with witches' marks to ward off evil spirits. Whether you buy the history or not, it's a genuinely brilliant pub and one of the best places to eat in the Cotswolds, full stop. The Queen's Head on the Market Square is run by Donnington Brewery and serves their real ales alongside honest pub food that locals actually eat. The Sheep on Sheep Street does wood fired sourdough pizza and a good Sunday roast in a light, contemporary space that feels different from anything else in town.

The Market Square is the heart of Stow-on-the-Wold and worth understanding properly. Those narrow alleyways leading into it known locally as 'tures' weren't built narrow by accident. They were designed to funnel sheep into the square to be counted and sold. On a single day during the height of the Cotswold wool trade, 20,000 sheep were sold here. The market cross and the old wooden stocks are still standing. The square itself is magnificent.

St Edward's Church at the northern end of town has the most photographed door in the Cotswolds the ancient yew trees flanking the north entrance have grown around the doorframe over centuries, creating something that looks exactly like the Doors of Durin from The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien visited. Whether the door inspired him is debated, but it doesn't really matter when you're standing in front of it.

Stow is excellent for antiques there are more antique dealers per square mile here than almost anywhere else in England. The Fosse Gallery on the Market Square is one of the most significant contemporary British art galleries outside London. For food shopping, the Cotswold Cheese Company on Digbeth Street is essential.

The walk to the Slaughters, Lower then Upper is one of the best easy walks in the Cotswolds, about five miles, flat, along the River Eye. Do it on a weekday morning and you'll have it largely to yourself.