Thursday, November 10, 2022 at 5:00pm Eastern

Mention the Cotswolds and what usually springs to mind is English perfection: gorgeous houses of glowing stone, tiny cottage gardens, churches with towering spires and steep high streets – the sort of thing you see on a calendar – beautifully maintained by largely wealthy ‘incomers’. 

In fact, the Cotswold Hills are quite a harsh environment; a mighty escarpment of Jurassic rock, part of a much larger geological shelf stretching from Bath in the south west to Yorkshire in the north eas, and stuffed with fossils. They are fairly high for England, around 1,000 feet above sea level, and the sheep that brought them so much wool wealth in the mediaeval period are hardy. Temperatures are cold in the winter and hot in the summer and on the skirts of the escarpment are lowland villages and the largely industrialised Stroud Valley to the west providing a total contrast.

This is the background knowledge that will underpin next year’s trip, for those of you lucky enough to be going, with history, music, literature, folklore, rivers and rural roads a-plenty.

Virtual Soirée presentation procedure:

Dana and our guide will arrive at the meeting 10 minutes in advance for those of you who would like to say hello and make sure your zoom settings are ready. The presentation will start promptly at the scheduled hour, and Dana will begin the meeting by muting the microphones and introducing our speaker. The talk will be recorded.  The lecture will last about 45 minutes and afterward Dana will moderate a Q&A session. If you show up late, no worries, you will be muted upon entry.

After the tour, you will receive a follow-up email with a recording of the event. You will be able to access this recording for three months.