Tue, Sep 27, 2016
What actually ARE the 'Cotswolds'? Despite touring the area as a budding young Stratford actress in 1963, Penelope has never been sure about quite what defines this famous region. Starting in the celebrated 'chocolate box' village of Bibury, she sets off to reveal an unspoilt world of wealth - ancient and modern - created originally by sheep, wool and weaving. Penelope's friend Jilly Cooper - a Cotswold villager since 1982 - is on hand to explain the celebrity obsession with this region, and reveal some of the latest names to be seen here.
Top-rated
2016
Accompanied by her Batsford Guide, Penelope's journey starts with a ferry ride across Loch Fyne, to the Kintyre peninsula - made famous, thanks to Paul McCartney, by its southern tip. Penelope learns about the local Viking saga, now heartily celebrated by the villagers of Tarbert, before venturing north to see how the Crinan Canal, with the help of a holidaying Queen Victoria, transformed life here and created Scotland's most beautiful short cut.
Top-rated
2016
With its English accents, tea shops terraces, and habit of attracting writers like Virginia Woolf, refined little Manorbier quickly shows Penelope that Pembrokeshire enjoys a history all of its own. 'Little England Beyond Wales' is a cultural legacy stretching back 900yrs to when the Normans annexed the south of the county for themselves and built mighty Manorbier Castle.