~Tough Choices~ Getting a decision out of my relatives is always a challenge so I was a bit nervous about how we'd fill a long weekend away with my parents, my sister and her partner last October. We were staying just outside Cirencester in the south of the Cotswolds and we tried to make sure that everyone got to pick something to do at some point during the weekend. After my husband spent the first evening in our self-catering accommodation snoring on the sofa whilst everyone else watched 'Autumnwatch' my sister declared that her choice was a trip to Westonbirt Arboretum. I think she'd done her homework and knew it was nearby and hadn't just been inspired by ...  Read the complete review

Last year saw the BBC Autumnwatch programme base their studio at The Great Oak Hall at Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire for a couple of weeks. While this was on I would rave at anyone I could find about how they should watch it and go there - but I was a little biased because you see I got married at Westonbirt last year. I've lived in the west for a long time, moved here when I was 4, have done some moving about all over the place but have always returned here and in all that time I had never even stepped foot in Westonbirt Arboretum. When I met my husband on the bus back in 2009 we became firm friends and I knew he had been to Westonbirt and he had ...  Read the complete review

If there's one thing that defines the British countryside during the seasons, it's our beautiful trees. Regardless of the time of year, our distinctive countryside is a mass of colours and shapes created and presented by a seemingly endless variety of trees. At the risk of sounding a bit bonkers, I think there's something wonderfully spiritual about trees. Large, established trees that are older than anybody in your family seem to stand majestically, guarding the secrets of countless generations that have passed, and countless more to come. One of the best things about a day out in the countryside, of course, is that so much is free. Woodlands, forests and ...  Read the complete review

Westonbirt Arboretum and garden centre is a wonderful area of trees. There are 18,000 of them from all over the world. The first was planted in 1829 and of course they are still being planted today. Westonbirt is in the Cotswold country side and you can wander along the 17 miles of waymarked trails or simply just sit and admire some of the oldest, tallest and even rarest trees and shrubs in the world. It is well known for its great displays of rhododendrons, azaleas, magnolias and wild flowers. Dont think though that you can only visit in the summer or that the winter is boring here. To see it all after snow is wonderful. It is open every ...  Read the complete review