Tourism

Tourism is an important part of life here, employing almost one in ten of the workforce directly or indirectly.

The general beauty of the area is an attraction in itself, but there are other reasons for visiting.

Tewkesbury Abbey is a jewel of English church architecture, set in a town that complements it and has its own attractions.

Gloucester has a Roman past that can still be traced, not only in museums but in the town itself.

Cirencester's Roman past is also breathtakingly displayed in its museum, which has won national awards, but it needs an expert to perceive it in the town itself. it is the mediaeval past that takes the eye here, with the magnificence of St John's Church - which visitors can be forgiven for calling Cirencester Abbey - dominating the townscape.

Berkeley Castle is the oldest continuously inhabited home in England - and the scene of King Edward II's unfortunate encounter with a red-hot poker. But while you are in the area, don't miss the Jenner Museum in Berkeley town.

If Natural History is more your style, then the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Slimbridge is essential visiting.

The River Severn attracts tourists, but its dangerous tides have caused deaths almost every year. Until you have seen it for yourself, the speed of the tide is unbelievable. In fact, the tide itself can be a tourist attraction, because at the right phase of the moon it produces a 'bore' - a vertical wall of water moving up river at the speed of a car. Only a handful of other rivers in the world have ever had a bore, and almost all have been lost to hydroelectric 'improvements'. If the proposed Severn Barrage is ever built, this wonder of nature will also be destroyed for ever. See it now!

And of course there are the Cotswolds and the Forest Of Dean.