THREE GREAT HIKING ROUTES TO EXPLORE

Cider with Rosie. The author grew up in Slad village and after his death in 1997 some local land was given to the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust. Max out on country air and follow the Laurie Lee six-mile circular route taking in woodland, limestone grassland rich in wild flowers (including rare orchids) and steep hills with terrific views. It’s dotted with posts inscribed with Lee’s poetry too.

THE COTSWOLD WAY

This dramatic footpath starts in handsome Chipping Campden and finishes 102 miles south in Bath. There’s also a six-mile circular route from Chipping Campden to spectacular Dover’s Hill along a small part of the trail and then along the beautiful and lesser trodden Monarch’s Way.

WINCHCOMBE & CLEEVE COMMON

Start in Winchcombe, the walking capital of the Cotswolds. Follow the Cotswold Way before a 600ft climb to Belas Knap Long Barrow; then on to bleak, moody and magnificent Cleeve Common, with its famous Single Beech and Iron Age hill fort perched on the Cotswold Edge with epic views reaching into Wales. Follow the path back down to Postlip and, 8½ miles later, arrive back in Winchcombe. sector. Chris Grimes, managing director of Burford-based Manor Cottages, said that uncertainty over when people would be able to take a break in another home had been creating ongoing confusion over bookings and rebookings of holiday properties.

“We are hugely in limbo, trying to navigate a path to keep holiday property owners happy and enable customers to rebook for future dates, yet not knowing what the timing is,” said Grimes. “Even when the selfcatering rental market resumes, which at the moment seems likely to be early July, will people want to come?” Part of the cachet of the Cotswolds is its epicurean offering of gastropubs, top-class restaurants and stylish cafés. “The Cotswolds is all about natural beauty mixed with great local services – the pubs, the shops, the places to eat. It’s important to get all this up and running,” he stressed.

A spokesman from the West Oxfordshire District Council, which includes Burford in its remit, commented: “Most hospitality and leisure businesses make the vast majority of their money (and probably almost all their profit) in the April to October period, other than a few weeks at Christmas. The message from the businesses that we are getting, loud and clear, is that the earlier they can open, the more optimistic they are about being able to survive.”

The region’s hotels are equally confused as to when they will be able to reopen, and under what circumstances. “We’re preparing for every scenario,” said Paul Sadler, general manager of the acclaimed Calcot & Spa hotel near Tetbury. “You can close a hotel really quickly, but opening takes a lot of time, particularly given that we don’t know what social distancing rules will be in place, what measures will be needed to keep guests and staff equally safe.”

Within these new requirements, keeping the hotel’s high quality will be essential. “We can’t let things slip because of the changes,” emphasised Sadler. Meanwhile, the hotel is continuing its hospitality practices – by looking after people in the local community. The kitchen produces 600 meals a week for key workers and vulnerable people in the Tetbury, Malmesbury and Nailsworth area. It means that they can keep many of their suppliers busy, ready for when they reopen – perhaps in mid-July, or the end of that month, but who knows?

Having seen the reaction of so many tourist boards urging people to stay away, the approach of the Cotswolds seems refreshing, yet fair – visit, but avoid the honeypots, and please be considerate.