Painswick feels like a second home to me although I never lived there. Thanks to a pair of Californian disapora brothers that had settled there and who I went to school for much of a misspent youth it was the centre of my social life, it and The Pelican in the nearby Stroud. An historic wool town it is known as the ‘Queen of the Cotswolds’ due to its charming streets and beautiful architecture (although far from unique in this part of the world) and lovely views across one of the ‘Five Valleys’ that converge on Stroud, including the neighbouring Slad Valley the setting for Laurie Lee’s famous memoir ‘Cider With Rosie’.

Above the village is the Painwick Beacon, the trig point sat up on the earthworks of the iron-age Kimsbury Hill Fort, rather sadly now part of the local golf course. The trek up to it is well worth for the spectacular views across the Cotswold hills as well as west towards the Severn Valley and into Wales. There are plenty of great walks around here including one of my favourite spots in the region Pope’s Wood and its quirky poetry corner if you can find it. Just below the Beacon are Painswick’s famous Roccoco Gardens which are worth a visit but entry is not free.

The heart of the village is St Marys Church and the famous and ancient 99 yew trees but enough about that, it is also home to many interesting doors not used anymore.