Broadwell has it all; a broad village green ringed by lovely Cotswold stone cottages, a gentle stream running through the village, a popular inn, and a Norman church, full of interesting monuments and artifacts which take me straight back to my early teens.

The church is closed today for reasons only too obvious, in view of the fact that we are here at the beginning of 2021. But it was one of the many little churches I explored with my brother in the late 1950s and early 60s. I remember climbing the tower steps to the roof, something you are certainly not allowed to do these days, and surveying the incredible view from there. It’s amazoing how little has changed. As you can see we have arrived on a spring day when the flowers are simply spectacular.

Broadwell is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. At that time it had only 46 inhabitants. In 2011, there were 355 and the population was slightly declining. Soon we will discover exactly how many live here now as this year is a census year in the UK.
This huge village green was donated to the village by Lord Ashton quite recently, in the late 20th century.

Down beside the green runs a classic Cotswold shallow stream, a tributary of the Evenlode. he road fords the stream, which is no more than a few inches deep, in a way that’s quite familiar in these parts The Fox Inn, a pretty classic country pub, has the slightly less familiar privilege of being able to serve beer made in the nearby village of Donnington where we are heading next.