MY FAVOURITE VIEW

For pottery designer Emma Bridgewater, there are few places more inviting and idyllic than her late sister’s farm with its views over Slad Valley

Pottery designer Emma Bridgewater has a soft spot for Slad Valley in Gloucestershire

The beauty of the Cotswolds countryside draws Emma outdoors

Fennells Farm, the headquarters of Giffords Circus, sits on an escarpment above Gloucester and has the most beautiful views in all directions. Facing westwards you look out across the Severn to the Forest of Dean, Wales and beyond, then when you spin around to the north you look across the steep valley to picturesque Slad.

There’s something about seeing everything laid out before you that just beckons you to get out and explore. The valley down to Slad is a particularly exciting bit of the Cotswolds for me; it feels like a proper working rural village. I love walking down the steep hill, onto

The Vatch and then to The Woolpack pub for a ginger beer shandy and a sausage roll, which is a nice reward!

My sister Nell, who tragically passed away from breast cancer recently, had lived at Fennells Farm for some time, and it will continue to be Circus HQ and where the tour begins and finishes its season. Being in that space, of course, has huge associations with my darling sister, who was an inspiring force of life. She decided 20 years ago that circus was not going to be allowed to just trickle away into something that nobody ever went to and so she started reimagining it. Now, people say, ‘Oh, it’s what the circus used to be like!’ But it’s not: it’s what Nell thought the circus should be like. They do everything in a considered but relaxed way, and my family get excited about the circus each year.

Slad is known for being where Laurie Lee grew up and where the book Cider With Rosie is set. I first read that novel when I was about 11 or 12 and his descriptions of the countryside plunge you into a compelling world, now lost to time.

I would go mad if I couldn’t spend a lot of time outdoors and feel lucky that so much of my life has been spent exploring the countryside. Increasingly, it seems children are being brought up without enough exposure to rural life. What you don’t know, you can’t love, and what you don’t love you won’t have an interest in looking after, so I think it’s important that these depictions of the countryside don’t fall by the wayside. Look out for Emma Bridgewater’s spring collection, including the Easter and Mother’s Day ranges, emmabridgewater.co.uk

Giffords Circus 2020 Tour, The Hooley, runs 9 April-27 September. giffordscircus.com