A Cotswold escarpment does not announce itself from the Vale of Evesham side; you simply turn a corner at Broadway and the road tilts upward, steeply, toward a tower on the skyline. Broadway Tower is a folly, built in 1798 for the Earl of Coventry on one of the highest points of the Cotswolds, at about three hundred and twelve metres. It was designed to look like a small castle and to be seen from the earl's estate far to the west, and the legend says that on a clear day you can see sixteen counties from the top.
The climb up Fish Hill is a proper test for a loaded bike, with a steady gradient, a couple of hairpin-like bends and a wide view back over the vale as you gain height. At the top, the tower sits in a country park, with grass, sheep and a car park, and the wind is nearly always blowing. Autumn and winter mornings can bring mist in the vale below while the ridge stays clear, and the sunrises are memorable. Weekends bring crowds, so if you want the view with some peace, go early on a weekday.
The story of the tower includes an interesting piece of Victorian history. William Morris, the designer and founder of the Arts and Crafts movement, rented the tower as a retreat in the 1880s, and it became a gathering place for artists and writers. The honey-coloured Cotswold limestone, formed in warm seas about a hundred and seventy million years ago, is the material of the villages below, and it glows gold in low sun, especially in Broadway and Chipping Campden.
Broadway, about two and a half kilometres away, has a good choice of tea rooms, pubs and shops along a wide green-lined high street, and it makes a handsome place for a break, though it is busy in summer. Chipping Campden is smaller but just as lovely. Fuel is not abundant in the villages, so plan around Evesham, about eleven kilometres away, which is a proper town of over twenty thousand people. Bring a windproof layer, since the ridge always seems to be colder than the valley.