I was born and bred in the Cotswolds in what was once a small village -Minchinhampton.
I left the area when I was eighteen (see previous post “All About Me”) and didn’t return until later in life when I was divorced with two children.
We settled here in 2005 and despite having all these wonderful Cotswold villages on our door step we soon got absorbed in everyday life and they just became the “norm”.
Now I’ve taken early retirement I have more time to actually explore all these wonderful places properly, in tourist rather than local mode. This week I visited Nailsworth:-
This market town lies in a wooded valley on the A46, just over 20 miles north of Bath and to the east of Stroud, in the Southern Cotswolds.
Nailsworth is a small but very welcoming town and like its nearby neighbour Stroud was once noted for its involvement in the Cotswolds wool trade. Many mills were built and used during the successful wool and cloth trade, but they have now been converted to new uses such as restaurants and hotels, like Egypt Mill, which stands near the centre of town. As a result of this history it is said to have the largest number of working water wheels per square mile in the country.
The centre of Nailsworth stands at the union of two valleys and nearby you will find Badminton and Gatcombe Park, both world famous for their horse trials, and High Grove, the country home of King Charles, is a few miles away near the historic town of Tetbury which I will cover on a separate trip.
On our midweek trip to the town we managed to park in one of the free two hour parking spaces on Old Market directly off the A46 and adjacent to our first port of call “Domestic Science.”
This is a classic example of how you can live somewhere nearby and not even know about the existence of such a fabulous shop which opened way back in 2011. As a local you have a tendency to just keep revisiting the same places you have always been and not actually exploring to find something new.
This was originally a 2000 sq ft shop, half of which existed in the basement of the original mill building. Now it stretches over another two new floors filled with natural light and with views over the stream at the rear. It is home to an eclectic mix of vintage, homeware and lifestyle. They even have additional branches in Tetbury and Stow-on-the-Wold.
It’s like an “Aladdin’s Cave”. I loved it and spent ages meandering around the different floors with their specialist dressed rooms such as “The Bathroom” full of original, quirky and off-beat vintage pieces sourced from their personal travels.
There is plenty to pick from including Candles, Clothing, Jewellery, Lighting, Stationary, Bath and Beauty items and even Toys!
The staff are super friendly and helpful and I left with a new ochre rug for my bedroom, a beautiful smelling “Illumens Poire Diffuser” and some Ecobath Lemongrass, Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Black Pepper Epsom Salts in which to soak my currently dodgy knees!
In the basement there is an adjoining cafe “The Canteen” which serves the best locally sourced food, cakes and coffee. Like the rest of the building the cafe follows the interior room placement of the mill and stretches across two completely separate rooms. With it’s quirky interior and comfortable sofas, chairs and tables I thoroughly enjoyed my restful lunch of smoked mackerel pate, sourdough bread, capers and rocket followed by “Persian Love Cake” and as requested an extra hot decaf, skinny cappuccino!
With 90 minutes of our free parking already eaten up in just one visit we moved the truck further up the road into a small car park which also offered 2 hours of free parking and we set off to explore the remainder of town.
Passing the Natural Cookery School, which I’ve not yet visited, but has excellent reviews on TripAdvisor for running cookery classes, supper clubs and outside catering from their beautiful culinary space since 2007, we reached our next stop which was “Joya”.
I’ve been visiting this small shop for many years. It’s a great place to find something for a birthday or Christmas gift, they stock items such as jewellery, bags, soaps and clothes. The shop owner is really friendly and chatty, on this visit we landed up talking about the differences we see in the Millenial generation!
I left with a bunch of pure woollen socks. A great first Christmas present for my daughter who spends part of her time away from home pet sitting and now appreciates the need for comfortable but warm socks to put inside her wellies!
From here we wandered along Market Street past a selection of other shops including a couple of large charity shops until we reached Bath Road (A46). We stopped here at The Yellow Lighted Bookshop.
We both read voraciously. I’m currently on my 67th book this year to date and no doubt my husband has exceeded that! Although we do both have Kindles, bought originally to alleviate the need to pack books when we travel, we are also great supporters, when the opportunity arises, of buying from independent bookshops. I guess we are all guilty, at one time or another, of buying from Amazon but there is nothing quite like the feeling, smell and cosiness of a local bookshop.
The Yellow Lighted Bookshop opened its first shop in Tetbury in 2008, and Nailsworth a year or two later. As stated on their website the name is from a book called The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop by an American called Lewis Buzbee. It’s a history of bookshops, and why they are socially, culturally and economically important.
Buzbee got the image from a letter that Vincent van Gogh (who had worked as a bookseller) wrote to his brother not long before he died. Van Gogh wanted to go back to Paris, and on a wet November evening, paint the yellow light of the bookshop pouring onto the street outside.
The owner Hereward has worked in bookselling all his adult life, from central London, to Liverpool, Cheltenham and all over the country. Their core team of booksellers have more than 100 years’ experience, with a range of librarianship, hospitality, event and retail experience as well.
A carbon-neutral business with an ethical approach to everything they do, they raise money to support a variety of causes ranging from books for children at the local foodbank, the local Women’s Refuge, and a variety of refugee charities whilst also supporting local schools on a regular basis.
I just love the history behind bookshops, it’s always worth exploring.
Further down the road on the right is “Red Hen”. We always pop in here every time we are in Nailsworth. It’s another fine example of a quirky shop with stationary, toys, home accessories and decorations as well as unique gifts. Definitely worth a visit!
Nailsworth was selected by The Sunday Times newspaper (March 2014) as one of the best places to live in Britain and the coolest place to live in Gloucestershire, according to a recent survey to discover the Top 50 Coolest places to make your home. Not surprisingly, therefore, the town is renowned for its selection of award-winning restaurants, pubs and cafes.
Eating out in Nailsworth means you are spoilt for choice and just opposite Red Hen on the same side of the road as the bookshop is William’s Food Hall which has helped turn Nailsworth into a bit of a foodie haven. It not only invites foodies through its doors to dine on fresh seafood and local produce, it is also renowned for hosting the odd celebrity.
On the opposite side of the small roundabout, tucked away behind the pretty Penny Rupert Gardens is Hobbs House Bakery. Famous for being owned by the Fabulous Baker Brothers – Tom and Henry Herbert – it was featured on their TV show.
Further up this road past the bakery, just before Morrisons, is the corner shop that is Walkers Butchers. It’s always worth taking a peek in their window even if you don’t need to buy anything, just to see the array of meats etc on offer. Today minced venison and fresh grouse attract my eye. You know you are truly in the heart of the countryside when such items are available over the counter.
On the subject of food to purchase, this area of the Cotswolds is renowned for its regular Farmers Markets and Nailsworth is no exception. They hold an artisan market on the second Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. until 2.00 p.m. in the Mortimer Gardens which is just behind the bus station in the centre of the town.
Selling local seasonal produce and with 30 plus stalls you can browse freshly baked bread, cakes, locally made cheese and pies as well as an award winning butchers alongside garden plants and freshly cut flowers plus gifts such as jewellery, soaps and wine/beer.
They even have musical entertainment on most Market days.
Walking back to the truck we loaded up and drove a little way outside of town towards the village of Avening in order to drop into the local garden centre. Owned and run by Blue Diamond it was originally built on the site of an orchard with the wonderful Gatcombe Stream running alongside the bottom of the car park.
This garden centre is a veritable oasis of shopping with everything you would expect from a traditional garden centre and more. It is always one of my stop offs pre Christmas and didn’t disappoint even though it’s a bit early in the season.
I love perusing the decorations and tree ornaments, the candle and diffuser area, kitchen accessories from cookbooks to mixing bowls, bath time specialities and locally made food and drink. They also have a recently refurbished cafe with a rich history (mention the name “Tubbys” to anyone local and they will know where you mean!) which is complemented by outdoor seating overlooking the beautiful waterside and waterfall.
What a great way to finish our day and as we set off home I make a point of driving up Spring Hill away from Nailsworth and stopping off at Forest Green Rovers home ground. This is where our most famous local football team play.
Equally renowned for making their way into the football league in 2017 as the smallest place to ever have a club in the Football League. Nailsworth has a population of just under 5800, it is also famous for being recognised by the The United Nations as the world’s first carbon-neutral football club and it was described by FIFA as the “greenest team in the world”.
As part of the efforts of owner Dale Vince who is famous for also owning Ecotricity the world’s first company to sell green energy, he introduced vegan only food at the football ground in 2015!
Perched on top of the hill it is probably one of the most weather battered football grounds in the league as well although In harmony with nature they also have an organic pitch that captures rainwater and recycles it back for irrigation, saving precious tap water.
If you visit Nailsworth during the football season try and include a game. It’s definitely a new experience.
NB: This is the second of a series of posts about the wonderful “Cotswolds”. An area in the UK that you really shouldn’t miss out on visiting if you are coming to the UK. It’s full of olde world charm, history going back to the Roman era and beautiful architecture. Check out my previous posts in this series plus more to come soon.
Please don’t forget to comment and/or like. I love to hear what my readers think. and also look forward to your recommendations of places to see in the Cotswolds for my future adventures Thank you
A Midlife Adventure 