We're exploring a gorgeous region where druids dance and
waterwheels turn it's the West of England
if you like England and you want to mix
its natural historic and cultural
wonders you'll love the West while
everything in this episodes within a
couple hours of London out here it feels
a world away from the big city after
hiking through picturesque Cotswolds
villages will place shuffleboard with an
eccentric Laura will tour a striking
Cathedral and attend evensong after
going way back to the Neolithic Age
we'll zoom into the new image and we'll
top it off with some hard apple cider
straight from the farmer Great Britain
is made of England Scotland and Wales
and we're exploring the West of England
starting in the Cotswolds we visit
stow-on-the-wold and chipping Campton
then it South to Wells Glastonbury and
the prehistoric stone circles of
Stonehenge and Avebury
the Cotswolds hills are dotted with
enchanting villages and bucolic farmland
and it's all laced together by wonderful
trails this is the quintessential
English countryside and it's walking
country the Cotswolds are best
appreciated on foot and that's how we'll
tour the area the region's made-to-order
for tender feet you'll encounter time
past villages delightful vistas and
poetic moments you'll discover hidden
stone bridges cut across fancy front
yards and enjoy close encounters with
lots of sheep the English love their
walks and defend their age-old right to
free passage and they organize to assure
that landowners respect this law too
any paths found blocked are
unceremoniously unblocked while
landlords have plenty of fences they
provide plenty of gates as well you'll
encounter all sorts of gates on these
hikes this one's called a kissing gate
it works better with to lower slaughter
is a classic example of a Cotswolds
village with a babbling brook charming
gardens and a working water mill just
above the mill a delightful cafe
overlooks the Mill Pond
as with many fairy tale regions in
Europe the present-day beauty of the
Cotswolds was the result of an economic
disaster whoa was a huge industry in
medieval England and Cotswolds sheep
grew the very best according to a th
century saying in Europe that festival
is English and in England the best wool
is Cotswolds it's a story of boom and
bust and then boom again because of its
wool the region prospered wealthy wall
merchants built fine homes of the honey
colored local limestone thankful to God
for the riches their sheep brought they
built oversized churches nicknamed wool
cathedrals
but with the rise of cotton in the
Industrial Revolution the region's wool
industry collapsed the fine cuts walled
towns fell into a depressed time warp
becoming Sleeping Beauty's because of
that the region has a rustic charm and
that's the basis of today's new
prosperity its residents are catering to
lots of tourists and the Cotswolds have
become a popular escape for Londoners
people who can afford thatched mansions
like these in England Main Street is
called the High Street and in Cotswolds
market towns High Street was built wide
designed to handle thousands of sheep on
market days the handsome market town of
chipping Campton has a high street
that's changed little over the centuries
everything you see was made of the same
finally worked Cotswold stone the only
stone allowed today roofs still use the
traditional stone shingles to make the
weight easier to bear smaller and
lighter slabs are higher up
a th century market hall with its
original stonework from top to bottom
intact marks the town centre hikers
admire the surviving medieval
workmanship you can imagine centuries of
Wheeling's and dealings that took place
under these fairy rafters continuing our
walk we come to the quaint village of
Stanton travel writers tend to overuse
the word quaint I save it for here in
the Cotswolds a strict Building Code
keeps towns looking what many locals
call overly quaint village churches
welcome Walker's to pop in and enjoy a
thoughtful break this church probably
sits upon an ancient pagan site how do
we know it's dedicated to st. Michael
and Michael the Archangel who fought the
devil still guards the door inside you
get a sense that this church has
comforted this community in good times
and bad pre-christian symbols decorate
the columns perhaps left over from those
pagan days and the list of rector's goes
way back without a break to the year
this church was built with wool money in
fact they say generations of sheep dog
leashes actually were these grooves I
guess a shepherd took his dog everywhere
even to church throughout this region a
few of the vast domains of England's
most powerful families have survived the
Cotswolds are dotted with elegant
Downton Abbey type mansions today with
the high cost of maintenance and heavy
taxes some noble families have opened
their homes to the public to help pay
the bills Stanway house home of the Earl
of weaves is one such venerable manor
house the Earl whose family goes back
centuries welcomes visitors two days a
week walking through his house offers a
surprisingly intimate glimpse into the
life styles of England's nobility and
the gracious and like ibly eccentric
Earl has agreed to personally show us
around his ancestral home including a
peek at some touching family mementos
hair cut off members of the family
there was a tradition it was in
certainly in this house it was a
tradition and it's kept in this drawer
here for instance this is uh it says
Papa's hair my sister gave me March the
th this piece of paper from
I'm a mess of her hair in Silas she's
just as fresh as the day it was cut off
Wow and that's his hair cut off on the
day his wife died of pneumonia so this
is a huge table it is it's feet long
and what's the game it's called
shuffleboard or shovel board it was
known in Henry the eighth's
time this one was built we think in
just the beginning of the reign of
Charles the first and you use these
pieces and you try and let's try get
shovel them up to the far in
that's nice it may be a game for English
aristocrats but this Yankee commoner is
gonna give it a try
very good very good one point very good
very nice a two-foot show another
interesting artifact is what was called
a chamber horse a sprung exercise chair
from the s ad you did that your
plants up and down and your liver gets
shaken for a hundred years
fine ladies would sit on here and get
their liver done and find gentlemen -
you find gentleman - yeah a chamber
horse I guess that makes sense doesn't
know it's just like going to the gym
notice Lord Weems has rebuilt the old
fountain in his backyard and today as
one of the highest gravity-fed fountains
in the world rockets feet into the
sky it's the talk of the Cotswolds for
commoners the Lord's sprawling parkland
backyard makes for a jolly good day out
while not quite in a noble mansion we're
sleeping plenty comfortably just down
the road in the village of Stowe on the
wall Stowe mixes medieval charm with a
workaday reality a selection of
traditional pubs cute shops and inviting
cafes ring it's busy square for
centuries the square hosted a huge wall
market the historic Market Cross stood
tall reminding all Christian merchants
to trade fairly under the sight of God
and stocks like these were handy when a
scoundrel deserved a little public
ridicule people came from as far away as
Italy to buy the prized Cotswolds wolf
leases you can imagine with twenty
thousand sheep sold on a single day it
was a thriving scene the sheep would be
paraded into the market down narrow
fleece alleys like this they were built
really narrow because it forced the
Sheep to go single file so they could
count them as they entered the market
and ever since those medieval Market
days pubs have been the place to gather
enjoy a meal and a pint a beer tonight
we're checking out a gastropub that's a
pub known for its fine food while many
things that pubs provide like the cozy
ambience and community living room vibe
haven't changed other things like the
quality of the food certainly have this
isn't your grandmother's pub grub pubs
are putting more effort into their
offerings creative chefs are shaking up
England's reputation for food and you
won't find mushy peas anywhere on this
menu
we're enjoying guinea fowl and artfully
prepared fish with fresh vegetables a
short drive south takes us into Somerset
and to the wonderfully preserved city of
Wells dominated by its glorious
Cathedral Wells has a charming medieval
center the stately Bishop's Palace is
circled by a park like molten sports an
impressive front yard it's a market city
and has been for a long time
the peaceful Vickers clothes is
perfectly preserved lined with th
century houses locals claim this is the
oldest complete medieval street in
Europe originally built to house the
Cathedral Choir it still does this
overpass connects it with the Cathedral
England's first completely gothic Church
dates from about the West Portal
shows off what's said to be the greatest
collection of medieval statuary anywhere
in Europe about three hundred thirteenth
century carvings
this entire ensemble was once painted in
vivid color it must have been a
spectacular welcome a heavenly host
proclaiming welcome to worship stepping
inside you're struck by the unique and
ingenious scissors arch this hourglass
shaped double arch was added in about
to bolster the church's sagging
tower nearly years later it's not
only still working it's beautiful the
chimes draw your attention to one of the
oldest working clocks in the world from
the clock does it much-loved joust
on the quarter hour more medieval whimsy
is carved into the Capitals this man has
a toothache
another pulls a thorn from his foot and
a farmer clobbers a thief so hard his
hat falls off and under glorious stained
glass you can enjoy the cathedrals even
Somme
the evensong is at Church of England
choral service traditionally performed
each evening and welcoming everyone
taking a seat in the intimate central
part of the church we enjoy the
opportunity to experience the church
filled with timeless music because we're
here in July the cathedrals choir is on
break and a visiting choir is performing
this one's from near Liverpool
the countryside around wells is great
for growing apples and you can visit
farms that brew the authentic hard cider
known around here as scrumpy while cider
is becoming more and more refined and
popular the traditional scrumpy still
attracts a devoted crowd especially here
in Somerset and lens and cider farm
Roger Wilkins is as old-school as it
comes his enthusiasm alone is
intoxicating did your father make this
thing same cider me father did but
actually I learned off me grandfather
the actual making of the cider exactly
the same now as I guess my grandfather
done it all we do is crush them up press
the apples that natural juice comes out
and the yeast is in the skin in the
apple so I don't put nothing at all in
it it's a pure strength your gat we head
into the tasting room which I'm guessing
looks about the same as it did when
Rogers grandfather ran the place it's
time to sample the pure apple taste of
scrumpy along with it
. alcohol content I've heard when you
drink scrumpy you've got to be careful
well yeah I can't knock you about if you
went used to it
gallon a day you keep the doctor away
I've heard some I've heard some pubs
actually don't serve it because no they
won't
some that well now I serve you a half a
point and it's pure so it's so pure that
in the morning no problem no problem at
all no headache no hangover no nothing
that may be true but after my tasting
I'm making sure my producer does the
driving
throughout England the countryside is
picturesque and it hides a fascinating
history a history that goes back
thousands of years to prehistoric times
mysterious figures carved into hillsides
curious man-made mountains ancient
bridges and legends that go back to
Camelot and beyond
Glastonbury a modest market town today
has long had a holy aura it was a
religious site back in the Bronze Age
that's about BC it's also
considered the birthplace of
Christianity and England and the burial
site of the legendary King Arthur
centuries before Christ this hill called
a tour marked Glastonbury for thousands
of years pilgrims and seekers have
climbed it today it's capped by the
ruins of a church dedicated to Saint
Michel remember because Saint Michel was
the Christian antidote to paganism it's
a good bet this church sits upon a
pre-christian holy site seen by many as
a mother goddess symbol the Glastonbury
Tor has long attracted a variety of
travellers and seekers
and the tour has a biblical connection
as well for centuries pilgrims have come
here to Glastonbury on a quest for the
legendary Holy Grail you see Joseph of
Arimathea who is an uncle of Christ was
a tin trader and even back in biblical
times Britain was well known as a rare
place where tin could be mined
considering that Joseph could have sat
right here with the chalice that Jesus
drank from at the Last Supper in his
satchel near the base of the hill is a
calm and meditative garden built around
a natural spring according to legend the
Holy Grail lies at the bottom of the
chalice well in the past people came
here for physical healing today seekers
still come for healing but it's more for
a wellness of the mind and soul
England's first church was built here at
the base of the hill next to the chalice
well eventually a great Abbey was built
on the site of that church mix the scant
ruins of England's first Church with the
mystique of King Arthur and the Holy
Grail and the hard work of a busy
monastery and by the th century
plastron Berea VIII was the leading
Christian pilgrimage site in all of
Britain it was huge
employing a thousand people to serve the
needs of its pilgrims
at its peak Glastonbury Abbey was
England's most powerful and wealthy it
was part of a network of monasteries
that by the year challenged the
king they owned about a quarter of all
English land they had more money than
the king to King Henry the eighth
Abbey's like this were political
obstacles in he solved that by
dissolving England's monasteries he was
particularly harsh on Glastonbury he not
only destroyed its magnificent church
but for emphasis his men hung the abbot
displayed his head on the abbey gates
and sent his quartered body on four
different national tours at the same
time without its wealthy abbey the town
fell into a depression but Glastonbury
rebounded an th century tourism
campaign with thousands claiming that
water from the chalice well actually
healed them put Glastonbury back on the
map today Glastonbury in its mysterious
Hill are a center for searchers
popular with those on their own
spiritual quest part of the fun of a
visit here is just being in a town where
goddesses go for their conventions where
every other shop has a new-age focus and
where alternative is the norm
for a more tangible look at the
spiritual mystery of this countryside
prehistoric stone circles are scattered
all across Britain these circles many as
old as Egypt's pyramids were sacred
centers of ritual and worship they
functioned as celestial calendars ,
years ago locals could tell when to
plant and when to party according to
where the Sun rose and where the sunset
it still works that way today
at the Avebury stone circle you're free
to wander among a hundred stones
visitors ponder the cohesive ensemble of
ditches mounds and megaliths the work of
people clearly on a mission from
thousands of years ago the huge circle
while cut in two by a busy road and so
big it contains a village retains its a
lure and Wonder
and nearby stands Silbury Hill a yet to
be explained man-made mountain of chalk
for more than four thousand years this
largest man-made construction from
prehistoric Europe is just another
edifice from England's mysterious and
ancient religious landscape and exactly
what's it all mean we'll never know for
sure it's like looking at the ruins of a
medieval church and from that alone
trying to understand Christianity
Stonehenge is the most famous of
Britain's stone circles a visit starts
at the Museum where you'll see artifacts
from the Stone Age people who built it a
degree theatre demonstrates how the
structure is aligned with the heavens
marking both the longest and the
shortest days of the year and outside a
thatched Hut Hamlet helps you imagine
how its Neolithic builders once lived
huge stones like this replica were
quarried carved and then moved for many
miles some of them from as far away as
Wales
miles to the west they barged him
down rivers they may have rolled them on
logs like this nobody knows for sure
after this introduction a bus shuttles
you to the site visitors are in awe as
they ponder the continuously debated
purposes and meaning of Stonehenge the
major stones were erected at the end of
the Stone Age
just before the advent of metal tools
it's amazing to think that some of these
cross stones have been in place for
four-and-a-half thousand years
whatever its original purpose stonehenge
still functions as a celestial calendar
even in modern times the Sun rises on
the longest day of the year in just the
right spot and it retains its powerful
sense of wonder over those who gather
for over , years in a row this
ensemble of stones so artfully assembled
has silently done its duty
why here and for what purpose these
questions along with many more about
Stonehenge remain shrouded in mystery
but there's no mystery at all about the
fact that this part of England is a
fascinating region to explore thanks for
joining us I'm Rick Steves until next
time keep on travelin you've got a big
one oh yeah there you go
yeah we read on there considering that
Josip could have sat right here with
this is the quintessential English
countryside and it's walking country
