The Five Valleys are a group of valleys in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, which converge on the town of

Stroud Stroud is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Sited below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at the meeting point of the ...

at the western edge of the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedroc ...

. The Five Valleys are notable both for the landscape, which attracts visitors, and their role in industrial development of Britain starting with the wool trade in the 11th century, and developing through cloth manufacturing in the 18th century. Despite very poor roads, the use of the rivers and streams in developing links to other centres, via, for example the

Thames and Severn Canal The Thames and Severn Canal is a canal in Gloucestershire in the south-west of England, which was completed in 1789. It was conceived as part of a cargo route from Bristol and the Midlands to London, linking England's two largest rivers for bet ...

, helped the Five Valleys to prosper. The valleys are as follows: * The Chalford valley (also known as the " Golden Valley") * The

Nailsworth Nailsworth is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Stroud District in Gloucestershire, England, lying in one of the Stroud Valleys in the Cotswolds, on the A46 road, south of Stroud and about north-east of Bristol and Bat ...

Valley – runs from Cherington, through Avening and along to Nailsworth * The Ruscombe Valley * The

Slad Slad is a village in Gloucestershire, England, in the Slad Valley about from Stroud on the B4070 road from Stroud to Birdlip. Slad was the home of Laurie Lee, whose novel '' Cider with Rosie'' (1959) is a description of growing up in the ...

Valley (of '' Cider with Rosie'' fame) * The

Painswick Painswick is a town and civil parish in the Stroud District in Gloucestershire, England. Originally the town grew from the wool trade, but it is now best known for its parish church's Taxus baccata, yew trees and the local Painswick House, Pain ...

Valley The Five Valleys Walk is a popular circular walk of some around Stroud. It has been held annually since 1987, in aid of the Stroud-based

Meningitis Trust Meningitis Now is a national charity based in the United Kingdom. It was formed following a merger between the charities The Meningitis Trust and Meningitis UK in 2013. Meningitis Now is working towards a future where no one in the UK dies from men ...

, usually on the last Sunday in September. A more exacting version of this walk has also been published, as the "Five Valleys Circuit"; this includes an ascent over the high ground of Selsley Common rather than the charity walk's low-level route from Stonehouse to

, up the old railway line by the Nailsworth Stream. The Five Valleys Shopping Centre in Stroud is named after the Five Valleys.

Links

Route of the Annual Five Valleys Walk

References

*Hill, Barry ''Walking the South Gloucestershire Cotswolds'', Thornhill Press (Cheltenham) 1992 Hills of Gloucestershire Stroud District Cotswolds {{Gloucestershire-geo-stub