The Cotswold Line is one of seven Great Western Railway routes featured on Scenic Rail Britain’s free Window Seater audio travel guide app to help you discover the fascinating world outside the train window.
Drawing on local knowledge and insights from local community rail partnerships, this series of geo-located audio travel guides provide a different way to enjoy train travel, whether you’re a new passenger or a frequent traveller.
Among the tales featured from the Oxford-Worcester-Hereford route are how a Cotswold market town inspired The Hobbit‘s author JRR Tolkien, the battle for control of a tunnel under the Cotswold ridge involving the famous engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the traditions (and superstitions) of beekeeping in Worcestershire, the city of Worcester’s most famous export, and more.
The guides are the result of a partnership between community rail partnerships across the GWR network and the app’s developer Window Seater. The project was supported by GWR, the Department for Transport and Innovate UK.
The routes covered by the Scenic Rail Britain WindowSeater guides are:
- The Cotswold & Malvern Line (Oxford-Worcester-Hereford)
- The Golden Valley Line (Swindon-Stroud-Gloucester-Cheltenham)
- The Severn Beach Line (Bristol-Avonmouth-Severn Beach)
- The Heart of Wessex Line (Bristol-Bath-Yeovil-Dorchester-Weymouth)
- The TransWilts Line (Swindon-Melksham-Westbury)
- The North Downs Line (Reading-Guildford-Reigate-Gatwick)
- Reading to Basingstoke
Click here for more information about the guides and to download the app, which is available from the Apple App Store for iOS devices and from Google Play for Android phones.
- WindowSeater has created similar guides about other lines on the national rail network and some heritage railways in England and Wales, along with key rail lines in Thailand.
Picture: Scenic Rail Britain/GWR/SWNS