When the visitors have gone, the people who live in Winchcombe just get on with their lives, discovers Andrea Calversbert

Winchcombe manages to combine two roles as a picturesque old Cotswold town that tourists love to visit which also retains its own identity and sense of community.

Unlike many other Cotswold villages whose beauty often turns them into showcases, Winchcombe boasts a functional high street with bakers, greengrocers and clothes shops rubbing shop fronts with museums and gift shops.

A high school is down the road in one direction, with Sudeley Castle and low-beamed Cotswold pubs in the other.

The town really is unspoilt and makes an ideal base for walking as the Cotswold Way, Gloucestershire Way, Warden's Way, Windrush Way and Wychavon Way all intersect here.

It is also a perfect place to spend a morning or afternoon. There are plenty of places for refreshments and the folk and police museum is an amazing place which demands a visit.

Often relatively quiet, the cool interior of the Cotswold stone building is filled with artefacts and information telling the history of Winchcombe from Neolithc times to the present day, as well as housing a mixture of British and international police uniforms and equipment.

Driving through the lovely countryside away from Winchcombe towards Toddington (watch out for Thomas the Tank Engine at the steam railway), there are a couple of signs which are just too tempting to miss.

Hales Abbey rewards anyone who stops with a fantastic setting surrounded by woods and fields and Winchcombe Pottery is just outside the town itself but take your credit card - the stoneware hand-thrown pots are both useful and beautiful and just too tempting to leave behind.

And the castle where queen bess stayed is quite nice, too...

No visit to Winchcombe is complete without a trip down the narrow lane to Sudeley Castle, family home to the Dent-Brocklehursts and Lord and Lady Ashcombe.

While it is tempting to venture to the beautiful building mentally flicking through back copies of Hello! magazine, be prepared to be stunned by the historical importance of this castle.

Its role in helping to shape the county's history cannot be underestimated - and of course it is in one of the most beautiful settings in the country, nestled among the rolling Cotswold hills.

If only the walls could talk they could probably tell colourful tales of many secrets and schemes hatched by some of the country's most famous historical figures. They have housed many royals, including Queen Kathryn Parr after her marriage to Sir Thomas Seymour, while Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Queen Elizabeth I were all on the guest list. It was also the HQ for King Charles I's nephew Rupert during the Civil War.

George V also visited Sudeley but by that time the castle was just a romantic ruin after being destroyed by Cromwell's troops. It was abandoned for 200 years until being bought by John and William Dent of the Worcestershire glove-making company in 1837. They embarked on a restoration which has continued throughout subsequent generations.

The gardens are as impressive as the castle itself, with plants galore to enjoy and 'secret' paths to explore. Outside the castle is also an adventure playground and wildfowl and pheasantry. The gardens are a spectacular mixture of different areas, including a knot garden and others designed around the ruined 15th century tithe barn and reflectory pond. Many of the plants themselves provide a timeline for the castle's renovation -- for example, the yew hedges by the old rose garden were planted by Emma Dent in the 1800s.

Sudeley Castle is not only a museum in itself, it also plays host to a wide range of events throughout the year from concerts to art exhibitions.

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, September 5, 6 and 7, there is a series of lunchtime talks discussing Tudor costumes.

This is followed on October 6 to 8 by the Ideal Home Show and on October 29 by a Halloween fun day. In December there are Christmas carols by moonlight on a date yet to be fixed.

For more details on any events call 01242 602308.

The castle and its gardens, coffee shop and plant centre, where there is the chance to buy some of the wide range of plants seen in the gardens, are open Sunday to Thursday from September 3 to October 19 from 10.30am until 5pm.

For more information on any aspect of the castle, visit www.sudeleycastle.co.uk

How to get there

By car: Leave the M5 at junction nine and join he A46 (signed Evesham. Join the B4077 at the Queen's Head pub then the B4088 at a crossroads. The journey from Worcester takes about 45 minutes.

By train: The neatest stations to Winchcombe are Cheltenham (seven miles) and Ashchurch for Tewkesbury (nine miles). Regular trains run from Worcester