Lowbands, Worcestershire

Best thing: Peace and tranquility

Worst thing: When the person who sells the eggs and jam has run out!

Comments: Got some excellent Christmas presents (chutney & marmalade) - all beautifully packaged - such a bargain. Walked down the cottage drive to ask at house as there was nothing put out because of rain and bad weather. Whilst waiting got to say the little hens free-ranging around - these must be the most delicious eggs ever!

Best thing: I just love this place!

Worst thing: Faint hum of the M50 motorway - don't hear it all the time just occasionally.

Comments: Well, so someone else has found this closely guarded little enclave! Have relations living nearby who we visit regularly - always make time to take the dogs out for walk along the lanes of this quintessentially English Utopia. As previous reviewer commented, those in the know take their purses out with them or make sure their pockets are full of coins. Last weekend bought some winter pansies, cooking apples, beetroot, organic eggs & green beans. Need to take a basket with you as well (or carrier bag) as you must go down Mill Lane and acquire the most delicious Bramble Jam and heavenly Autumn Relish. The latter has almost all gone, the jar now nearly empty - so that means I feel another trip to Lowbands coming on! Go on........... pay this wonderful place a visit!

Best thing: Wonderful sense of peace and tranquility

Worst thing: nothing

Comments: Found this site by accident as I was looking up the Chartist history of this little enclave. Must rate it as went to see it today - October sunshine, honeysuckle still in the hedgerows, apples dripping off the trees and blackberries for all. No wonder O'Connor called this place Utopia - the most pleasant place on earth! I will return!

Best thing: Leafy lanes and high hedgerows

Comments: I've read the reviews of Lowbands and must concur with all the reviewers - thought I was the only one who has spotted this great little corner of Gloucestershire! Don't want it to get too crowded.

Best thing: Great place, great people!

Worst thing: Nothing

Comments: Last summer I was able to buy range of great plants, great jam, best free-range eggs ever, organic veg, hanging baskets and even a stone mushroom!....all whilst out taking a stroll. This place is very artisan - why not support them - I approve of their "chartist" spirit! Just remember to take your purse in your pocket when walking the dog!

Best thing: The villagers - they all make you feel very welcome and are all embued with a quiet confidence and smile that comes from knowing that they truly live in Utopia!

Worst thing: Nothing

Comments: Like the fellow reviewers I have trodden these quiet lanes for a few years now and am wary of waxing too lyrical as if people descend in droves it might just spoil this lovely corner of Olde England. This little piece of paradise lies in Gloucestershire near to where the 3 counties of Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire meet. It was up until the 1970s part of Worcestershire but is now part of the beautiful county of Gloucestershire. It does not have the quaint chocolate box feel of the Cotswolds but is does have an earthy, homely atmosphere. Everyone walks around with a smile on their faces and all are willing to pass the time of day. The Chartist homes lie nestled within their Conservation Area acreage and some are listed. There is a lovely Mill which lies in ruins but spend time listening to the mill stream as it passes under the bridge and watching the abundant droves of Dragonflies. Take time out from the hustle and bustle and stroll these lanes. You will be rewarded with ample blackberries, sloes, plums, apples and pears from the hedgerows. If you are lucky the wonderful lady who lives in Mill Lane will have put out some of her remarkable jams and chutneys for you to purchase. She also sells organic free-range eggs which are possibly the most wonderful eggs I have ever tasted, due no doubt to the fact that the chickens have freerange of her gardens and those of her neighbours. it was with delight that I met a pretty girl on a black pony who regalled me with tails of her chickens and those of the huge Kune Kune pigs who are also to be spotted in this wonderful place.

Best thing: The wonderful sense of community - as you walk the lanes surrounding these little cottages it is as my fellow walker stated "the most wonderful slice of England".

Worst thing: Nothing!

Comments: I am a retired history professor and found this little enclave whilst originally on a walking holiday. It is without doubt one of my favourite spots ever! As you walk the lanes you become steeped in the history of the place even though it is all relatively (1847) recent!The history of the Chartists is fascinating and as you stroll the leafy lanes with their Blackberry and Snowberry hedges every little nook and cranny shouts "Utopia"! This summer I returned again and found all was well with this forgotten corner. No-one has ruined it yet by exploitation. I bought - as a previous reviewer stated - the most wonderful organic jams on offer at a delightful cottage in Mill Lane. The owners of this cottage have embraced all that O'Connor so fervently wanted to establish - a truly organic garden and orchard that is abundant with fruit and vegetables. Peeping in through their gate was truly wonderful - just to see the abundance and providence that nature has given this corner of England. I left with reluctance this quiet and entrancing neighbourhood with a peldge to return next year!

Best thing: The wonderful artisan spirit of the community and the best organic jam I have ever tasted from one of these delightful Chartist gardens.

Comments: As O'Connor stated this little settlement is truly a piece of god's earth and is "Utopia". Lucky are those who live there. Just stroll the lanes and admire the cottages and gardens with their free-range chickens and of course stop and buy organic produce, eggs and the admirable jams and chutneys!