This illustrated guide to the Cotswolds is the famous Cotswold Drivabout and has sold over 100,000 copies! The leading guide to the Cotswolds since 1976, It has been revised and updated regularly over the years and shows visitors the unique splendor of the Cotswold Hills as it describes the area, and its hidden secrets, for visitors and local inhabitants alike.

An illustrated collection Of ghost stories covering the Cotswolds by Bob Meredith. And as Bob says: There still lingers in those pockets of the mind where shadows are turned into demons and where things go bump in the night, a flutter of the heart when the clock strikes twelve and a yearning for the firelight hearths where children listen to ghost stories on long, cold winter nights". The ghost story is not just a part of history. It is history! Another Book from Nicholas Reardon of Reardon Publishing

Crime and Punishment in and about the Cotswold Hills This fully illustrated colour book written by Cotswold publisher Nicholas Reardon shows the reader in Photographs and Sketches old time punishments such as stocks, whipping posts and lock-ups along with stories of murdered Kings and Court Jesters, Highwaymen and War Crimes committed long ago, when the Cotswold hills were not so peaceful. Having lived in the Cotswolds all my life, and with a keen interest in history, I would like to share my love of this area with you by pointing out some of the hidden features to be found in this unique part of the English countryside. Over the years my father, the well-known Cotswold artist Peter Reardon, had drawn a number of little sketches showing stocks, whipping posts and old town lock-ups. These illustrated the historic types of punishment served up to those who broke the law in and around these lovely and now peaceful hills. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that even after so many years these objects that my father had drawn were still in existence; they had been well looked after and could be viewed by anyone interested in this type of unusual history. Using the drawings as a starting point I photographed these objects to show how they look today. Then, along with a short description plus directions of how to find them, I produced the book you are now holding. Whilst reading this book you may notice that one of my personal interests is Gargoyles and I have scattered a few of my favourites throughout its pages. The Cotswolds contain a treasure trove of history: its grand stately homes and castles; the far older stone circles and ancient burial mounds; all in all, any visitor will be able to find something to delight them in these rolling hills. Nicholas Reardon

Welcome to Bibury William Morris once described Bibury as "the beautiful village in England." It is a very special village, with a character of its own, but with a tradition and feel that's purely Cotswolds. Many people return to Bibury, time and time again, breathing in the beauty and the tranquility of the river meandering through the Coln Valley, with the enchanting Cotswold stone cottages and old Mills. If you come to Bibury early in the morning, as the mist rolls gently back from the hills surrounding the village, you will find a row of traditional Cotswold cottages, well known throughout England, and indeed the world. This row of weavers' cottages as shown on the front cover is known as Arlington Row, and is perhaps one of the most photographed places in the Cotswolds

England used to enjoy one of the most comprehensive railway networks in Europe. By the last decade of the 19th century there was hardly a hamlet in the land which could not be reached by train itself or after a brief ride in a pony and trap from the nearest station. However, the improved reliability and sheer convenience of internal combustion engined road vehicles brought competition to the railways which caused a steady and persistent decline in freight and passengers throughout the second half of the 20th century. By then the railways, initially funded by private enterprise, had been nationalized as a state asset. This left the state paying for trains which ran at a loss for lack of goods and people to fill them. During the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, successive governments sought to staunch this outflow of funds by closing thousands of miles of railway lines and hundreds of stations.Many of these were branch lines, that is a track leaving the main line to serve a specific place but going no further. At a stroke, large parts of the huge 19th-century civil engineering effort which went into building the network were redundant and, once any salvage of value was removed, duly abandoned. By and large, it was not economic to reinstate the cuttings, embankments and bridges built to give the most straight and level route possible for each line.What is left of these abandoned lines can offer rewarding walks through the heart of the countryside, away from roads and traffic, rich in flora and fauna and littered with dramatic examples of Victorian civil engineering. In short, there is something to the taste of the routine walker and the railway enthusiast. For either type they are best done twice, once in summer and once in winter. The summer will show what grows where the plow and the sprayer to not go, while the winter will show the detail of what was built, well over a century ago. This book features 12 of these walks throughout Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.

Designed particularly for those who like country pubs, this book contains Cotswold cycle rides that are between ten and 16 miles long. They are mainly on quiet country roads, though some cross classified roads. The book also features tips and advice.

Stop Line Green (SLG) was a continuous linear defensive position some 100 mile long running in rough semi circle east of Bristol from Highbridge on the Bristol Channel in the south to Upper Framilode on the River Severn in the north. This book gives a guide to the walk of SLG

Contains circular walks in the Cotswold countryside. Each one in this guide offers a chance to view the daily life of the riverbank animals, birds and fish. Another title from the Cotswold publisher, Reardon.

The walks in this illustrated Reardon guide are collected from the Lifestyle supplement of the Gloucestershire Echo. These family walks are from three to five miles long, cover some of the most attractive hidden byways of the Cotswolds and include places of refreshment along the way.

An A - Z illustrated Town and Village guide to what you can see in the Cotswolds, with word and pen the Author brings to life this wonderful part of England, show and explaining what you can see as you explore the Cotswolds. From the strange sounding Cotswold towns and villages with this guide you will be shown sides of the Cotswolds that the average visitor often misses, the text is brought to life with well over 100 pen and ink sketches of Gargoyles and Hobbit like church entrances, Public monuments to medieval punishment tools, Castles to Magic stones, a life time of local knowledge has gone into this book. The beauty of the Cotswolds is not new, it is not something that has just come about recently, it is, you might even say, as old as the hills themselves. But it is not only beauty to be found in these hills, they are also rich in history, the Romans came, stayed a while and then left. They were about the first to leave us monuments of their advanced way of life that we can understand today, then came the Saxons, the Danes and the Normans. Each left something by which to remember them. In more recent times great houses have been built and are there for all to see. The Cotswolds intriguing, majestic, even cruel in its own way. There is a bigness that is breathtaking, especially during the summer, a loneliness that can be frightening during the winter, but always a grandeur, as powerful as an exciting tale that not one little bit must be missed. Perhaps early man found the excitement of these hills a good reason for settling in them. They offered a natural fortification in many instances for settlements, often with views over the valley of the Severn, where animals could be hunted and fish caught in the river. It is hoped that your visit to the Cotswolds will be most enjoyable, and if, with the help of these pages, more memorable, then the object of this publication will have been achieved

This full colour book to the Historic Cotswolds takes you alphabetically through the fascinating and mostly hidden side to the Cotswolds. 100s of pen and ink line drawings by Peter Reardon matching 100s colour photos of the same thing by his son Nicholas Reardon, so one can see things such as a stone crocodile head, with a spring gushing out of its mouth at Compton Abdale, as both a line drawing and colour photograph. The book travels all over the Cotswolds from its very own Stonehenge (Rollright Stones) in the North of the Cotswolds, to a Sham Castle in the South, with lots of strange or old odd things to see on the way, with this book you will soon find the Cotswolds have something of interest for anyone.

Evolving from the author's personal experience as a competitive bodybuilder and his many years of committed research and testing, the Biomechanically Correct (BMC) Training System-as outlined in this 250-page book-is a completely new way of thinking about resistance training. It optimises the substantial benefits for body and mind of unilateral training: exercising one muscle on one side of the body at any one time. Through its direct targeting of the prime moving muscle, the BMC Training System is an imperative training regime for anyone concerned to safely optimise muscle development and joint efficiency, while minimising wear and tear of body structures. In so doing, the BMC Training System moves beyond the traditional bilateral training approach, which so often sees unintended harm done to the body. Key features Clear and methodical presentation of the principles, components and benefits of unilateral resistance training that: - create awareness of physical functionality to help preserve mental and structural well-being and prevent injury - empowers participants with the knowledge needed for peak development of body and mind - breaks down natural defences often put up by those challenged to learn new things - encourages participation by a wider audience-beginner and experienced athlete alike, of all ages-by removing the stigma of intimidation and fear often associated with traditional bilateral training Simple, common-sense answers to simple questions - How do I exercise a muscle in a safe and efficient manner? Why is this system so important for achieving this? Series of extensively illustrated exercises for the prime moving muscle that detail step-by-step guidelines on how to execute each so as to develop, strengthen and condition the muscle and associated structures with minimal risk of injury The author has a simple philosophy for maintaining longevity for those committed to reaping the benefits offered by his BMC Training System: 'Train smart - think about what you are doing.'"