Besotted by the Cotswolds and a gorgeous Alfa

by Barry Green

Car: Alfa Romeo GTV

Drive: Bidford to Hatherley, England (144km)

Pix: Dawn Green

Is there anything that can match the Cotswolds on a warm, blue-sky day?

Here is picture postcard central – quintessential English villages and historic market towns oozing character and centuries-old castles, churches and country estates with a story to tell; all located in a giant jigsaw of stunning landscapes that vary from rolling hills to a lakeland with its own inland beach to ancient woodlands.

The defining theme that will have your shutter finger working overtime is the local warm, honey-coloured stone of buildings, great and small. Little wonder the Cotswolds is considered an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

It’s expansive. Embracing the counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire, the Cotswolds takes in almost 8611 square hectares. And very, very popular – nearly 40 million people visit the area each year.

I know what you’re thinking – that rules out any chance of a sporty drive, right? Not exactly.

Avoid July and August and a couple of weeks either side at all costs, pick your route carefully, make point-to-point pace a lesser consideration and chances are you will enhance the experience.

Especially behind the wheel of a timeless classic such as that ultimate development of Alfa Romeo’s fabled 105 series (64-77), a 1973 GTV 2000. In ravishing red, of course.

All road trips have a start and finish point, so for the purpose of the exercise we’re nominating two places where we’ve stayed and enjoyed immensely – Bidford-on-Avon, to the north-east in Warwickshire, and Upper Hatherley, outside Gloucester to the west.

As the ‘on-Avon’ moniker might suggest, Bidford is close by Stratford and can claim a close Shakespearean connection.

History has it that the Baird knew the former with some intimacy. Based on his experiences at the Falcon Inn (just down the street from our stay), he referred to the locale as ‘drunken Bidford’.

Imbibing or sober, I wonder what William would have made of the Alfa? Would he have been as seduced by its Bertone styling and oh-so-perfect proportions as me?

Time to drive. Ensconced in the black leather bucket seat, I take in the interior: clear all-round vision, toggle wiper switches on the console, indicators on the left stalk, ditto light switch and gear shift knob close to the steering wheel. I follow the owner’s advice on start-up: from cold, full choke, no throttle, turn the key.

The DOHC, inline four-cylinder engine bursts into life, I let the revs rise slowly, go to half choke and build the revs again. (From hot, no choke is necessary, just a little throttle).

The moment my feet work the pedals, though, there’s a feeling something just ain’t right.

The positioning – inclined downwards towards driver – is, in a word, unnatural. (After some hours driving, I found the strain on my right hamstring so severe I resorted to placing a U-shaped travel pillow under my thigh).

Dipping the clutch, take-up is smooth, albeit with some travel. Ditto the transmission – shifts are positive, up and down the box, though the throws longish.

The unassisted steering feels heavy at first, but lightens up agreeably and the Alfa tracks true with no tendency to wander at speed.

Engine response is keen, even on a light throttle opening as we make a slight diversion, but well worth it, left to Welford-on-Avon, which boasts as pretty a precinct of half-timbered thatched cottages you will find anywhere in England.

Then it’s south through Honeybourne and on to Chipping Camden and its imposing St James’ Church, a Norman building transformed into a place of worship between 1450 and 1500.

We journey Park Road/Cotswold Way to Willersey, then follow the signs to Broadway, where it’s prudent to park and stroll the high street lined with handsome, well-cared-for buildings ranging from Tudor to 19th century.

Also worth a visit is Broadway Tower, built as a folly by the Earl of Coventry in 1800, and located at the peak of the 312m Broadway Beacon, second-highest point of the Cotswolds.

We drive on to the A44, a near-vertical road with hairpin bends, just the place to let the Alfa raise its voice.

Its official numbers of 98kW @ 5500 rpm and 182Nm @ 3000 rpm and claimed 0-100km/h of 8.8 seconds might not look all that special by today’s standards, but with a kerb weight of just 1025kg the GTV’s response and eagerness to please belies the sum of its parts.

The free-breathing twin-cam pulls sweetly from 2500 rpm and cackles with enthusiasm as I work through the gears. Downshifting is done with an enthusiastic blip of the throttle, naturally.

They say all roads lead to Rome, but it’s the high-set Stow-in-the-Wold where no less than eight meet, including the A429 that takes us to Moreton-in-Marsh and ultimately, for my money, the most impressive village in the entire Cotswolds, Lower Slaughter.

Right on cue, as I’m about to snap the money shot, what should make a cameo appearance and glide into frame but a Ferrari 308 GTB. Nice.

From the Slaughters (there is an Upper as well), we head south to Bourton-on-the-Water. Bisected by the Windrush River, it is well serviced by no less than five bridges.

Next dot on the map is Northleach where several former inns survive from the days when it served the main coaching route from London to Gloucester.

The thought-provoking All Alone Lane leads towards the villages of Ablington and Bibury. Now, if Lower Slaughter is the prettiest place around, then the latter is not far behind.

The B4425 then takes us to Cirencester, a market town that overlays the Roman town of Corinium which, in its day, was second only to London in size.

There’s another chance to let the Alfa exercise its legs along the fast, straight A419 to Stroud, where five deep valleys merge and up to 150 woollen mills once thrived along the banks of the River Frome. The A46 and B4070 further up the ante, through some nice scenery, to Slad.

A succession of dips and dives provides a thorough interrogation of the GTV’s ride quality which, while firm in sporty Euro brand tradition, falls well short of crashy.

It's a more than acceptable concession, given the trade-off is, of course, consummate handling which the Alfa has in spades.

In no time, Painswick looms into view and immediately offers a point of difference in appearance. The buildings are just as impressive as elsewhere, but the stone is much lighter in tone – nearly a pale grey or off-white.

Painswick is a sign that we’re getting close to home – ‘home’ being spiritual in the sense that my wife’s maternal side of the family hail from nearby Cranham. So strong and long is the connection that the Verrinder clan meets for a popular and well-attended reunion here bi-annually.

We’ve found the occasion to be well worth travelling half the way around the world for. As are the Cotswolds – and the engaging and involving drive of a classic 105-series Alfa Romeo GTV.