Tewkesbury Heritage & Alleyways Trails, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire
Follow one of the Tewkesbury Heritage & Alleyways Trails and you'll get to see the parts of Tewkesbury that you might otherwise have missed, and if you have a thing for history, well, it goes without saying. Tewkesbury is a very attractive town, there's no denying that; medieval half-timbered buildings stand side by side with elegant Georgian houses and Victorian homes, there's a glorious 12th century abbey and something that this Gloucestershire town has a lot of for such its size - alleyways. Over 30 of them were once there were 90; narrow alleyways where the eaves and upper storeys of medieval buildings lean crookedly and almost touch, they arouse your curiosity, they get you intrigued.
The alleyways were originally built as a means of getting to dwellings and are often named after the families who lived in the properties they led to, like Clark's Alley, Hughe's Alley and Fletcher's Alley. In the 18th and early 19th centuries they were but filthy corridors, used as drains and rubbish dumps - little surprise that disease was rife in those days. Now it's all rather charming; you walk past and glance down them, you wonder where they go, what's down there. Well, now, leaflet in hand you can find out, and all at your own pace too, so take your time, look around, look up, look down and you'll see plenty to interest you. You might even go home having learnt something new, thinking "Well, well, well, I never knew that."
You can pick up a Tewkesbury Heritage & Alleyways Trail leaflet from the Visitor Centre, or even book for guided walks.
All information correct at the time of writing