THE COTSWOLD HILLS ARE ALIVE: Blaenavon Townswomen's Guild met on February 18, and after the minutes had been read, the chairman welcomed two guests, and hoped that they would enjoy the evening.

She then welcomed Rev W Rutter as speaker for the evening.

The Guild had very much enjoyed his previous visits, where on the first occasion he spoke about Inn signs and their meanings'.

On his next visit his subject was The Brecon and Monmouth Canal'.

This time Rev Rutter spoke on The Cotswold Villages', and he began by telling us something about the geology of the Cotswold Hills.

They are mainly in Gloucester-shire and extend from Chipping Camden in the north east to the city of Bath in the south west, separating the lower River Severn from the source of the River Thames.

The hills rise to a height of 1,092 feet at Cleeve Cloud, near Cheltenham.

The area is noted for sheep rearing and also for the mellow coloured limestone, which is used for all the buildings in the picturesque villages for which the area is famous.

Apparently, any new building must be be built with Cotswold limestone, and brick houses are not seen there.

Rev Rutter spoke of many of the villages, also showing slides to illustrate his talk.

Notable places were Lower Slaughter and Bourton-on-the Water, with streams running through the centre of the villages, which are crossed by pretty bridges by pedestrians.

Snowshill was another interesting place, which is where Snowshill Manor is located.

The Manor was the home of Charles Paget Wade. He was a great traveller and he brought back treasures from many countries back to the UK.

He filled the Manor with so many of these treasures that he had to live in a cottage on the estate.

It is now owned by the National Trust, and is visited by many people.

Many other villages were also mentioned in his talk and we thoroughly enjoyed hearing about them.

The chairman thanked Rev Rutter for a very enjoyable evening, and refreshments were served afterwards.