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UNITED KINGDOM - England

Location - Western Europe; Capital - England - London; Population - England - 50.5 million; Currency - Pound Sterling MORE UK - ENGLAND

The Cotswolds is really close to Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick, but I hadn't realised until I was in Shakespeare-land. So I took a great value-for-money tour for the day with Go Cotswolds - November 2015. Also added is the fascinating Secret Nuclear Bunker at Kelvedon Hatch, London's former regional headquarters during the Cold War. Another war-related location is Bletchley Park near Milton Keynes, site of the World War II codebreakers and brought to life in the film The Imitation Game - January 2016.

uknote 20 Pounds Sterling

eng5522 Warwick's big draw is the medieval Warwick Castle, standing next to the River Avon

eng5499 The castle is very popular with families, which lays on plenty of attractions for children - Warwick

eng5501 Looking at Warwick Castle from the Collegiate Church of St Mary - Warwick

eng5496 Climb the Collegiate Church of St Mary tower for great views of the city - Warwick

eng5505 Take in the city sites from the church tower including Eastgate (a medieval gateway, middle left), St Nicholas Church (middle right) and of course the castle - Warwick

eng5510 Inside the Collegiate Church of St Mary is the tomb of Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick in the 16th century - Warwick

eng5513 Stalls in the square at Market Place - Warwick

eng5514 Next to Lord Leycester Hospital is Westgate, the second medieval gate still standing - Warwick

eng5516 Lord Leycester Hospital was never actually a hospital but a retirement home, built in the 16th century for soldiers and their wives - Warwick

eng5517 The public can access parts of Lord Leycester Hospital but not all of it, as it remains a retirement home to this day - Warwick

eng5519 The small and narrow Castle Street lies close to the castle entrance - Warwick

eng5521 Along Castle Street to the Collegiate Church of St Mary - Warwick

eng5526 Another historic road worth wandering is Mill Street, which boasts several listed buildings - Warwick

eng5535 First stop on the Cotswolds tour was a rather misty Dover's Hill, famous as the site of the Cotswold Olimpicks - Dover's Hill, Cotswolds

eng5537 A traditional thatched house at Chipping Campden, Cotswolds. The Cotswolds is an area covering nearly 800 square miles and is the largest official Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

eng5539 Buildings are constructed with Cotswold stone, a local golden-coloured limestone which gives the towns and villages an bright, attractive feel - Chipping Campden, Cotswolds

eng5545 The 14th century Grevel's House is the oldest house in Chipping Campden, Cotswolds

eng5544 Inside the 17th century Market Hall, still used by traders - Chipping Campden, Cotswolds

eng5548 The local mayor makes his way to church on Remembrance Sunday - Chipping Campden, Cotswolds

eng5554 St James Church is a wool church, a church built from the proceeds of the wool trade, of which Chipping Campden was a major centre in the Middle Ages - Chipping Campden, Cotswolds

eng5560 The brilliantly quirky Broadway Tower, Cotswolds is a folly built in the late 18th century

eng5559 It now hosts a museum, shop and nearby restaurant - Broadway Tower, Cotswolds

eng5567 Climb to the top for some excellent views. Even better on a sunny day! Broadway Tower, Cotswolds

eng5572 What really appealed was a visit to a relic of the Cold War, a nuclear bunker closed in 1991 but now open to the public. Similar structures can be found throughout the whole of Britain, though most have been shut down completely. See my York page for one of the nerve-centres - Broadway Tower, Cotswolds

eng5575 The bunker was constructed to monitor and report nuclear explosions and resultant fallout - Broadway Tower, Cotswolds

eng5578 Members of the Royal Observer Corps would spend three weeks cooped-up in a single room. Check the website for opening times - Broadway Tower, Cotswolds

eng5585 Next up on the day-tour was a quick walk through Snowshill, Cotswolds

eng5586 More of the traditional Cotswold stone giving the area its distinctive look - Snowshill, Cotswolds

eng5587 Market Square is the centrepiece of market town Stow-on-the Wold, Cotswolds

eng5590 The square is surrounded by boutique shops, tearooms, cafes and pubs - Stow-on-the-Wold, Cotswolds

eng5591 Also on Market Square are the town stocks, so don't be too naughty - Stow-on-the-Wold, Cotswolds

eng5592 Away from the shops and tearooms is St Edward's Church - Stow-on-the-Wold, Cotswolds

eng5594 The town of Bourton-on-the-Water, Cotswolds is known for its series of small river bridges

eng5600 The Kings Men Stone Circle is one of three megalithic monuments that comprise the Rollright Stones, Cotswolds, probably built in the late Neolithic period between 2,500 and 2,000 BC

england2135 The market town of Cirencester is one of several gateways to the Cotswolds

england2141 Walking through Cirencester Park towards St John the Baptist Church - Cirencester

england2140 This lake is called, erm.. The Lake, in a private area of Cirencester Park - Cirencester

england2143 A short bus journey from Cirencester is Bibury, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Cotswolds

england2148 The Swan Hotel and out of picture on the left is a trout farm - Bibury, Cotswolds

england2149 It's the definition of quaint and picture postcard, two phrases over-used in this neck of the woods - Bibury, Cotswolds

england2156 One of the most famous streets is Arlington Row - Bibury, Cotswolds

england2166 It's a photogenic row of 14th century cottages originally built as a wool store - Bibury, Cotswolds

england2167 Arlington Row has featured in film and TV sets, and you may have to bide your time to avoid a tourist scrum - Bibury, Cotswolds

england2171 The 11th century St Mary's Church - Bibury, Cotswolds

eng5710 I love the road sign! Turn left for Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker

eng5706 The 45m broadcast tower built on top of Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker. Until the 1990s the site formed London's regional government headquarters in the event of a nuclear attack

eng5664 Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker, which is now open to the public, was decommissioned in 1992 and closed in 1994. The visitor entrance was a guardhouse, designed to look like a farm cottage

eng5670 An original (?) sign as you enter the bunker - Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker

eng5672 Below the mast is a large underground complex covering three floors, encased in 1m thick walls and built on shock absorbent gravel - Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker

eng5674 The 110m long tunnel leading to the Bunker has a 90° bend to lessen the blast impact and to aid the defence of the Bunker entrance from intruders - Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker

eng5691 Thick blast doors (left) each weighing nearly 1.5tons mark the entrance to the Bunker - Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker

eng5688 The Floor was an operations room and contained a huge map on which to plot aircraft positions - Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker

eng5689 AWDREY, or Atomic Weapons Detection Recognition and Estimation of Yield, detected nuclear explosions and their size - Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker

eng5693 On the middle floor is the Prime Minister's room - Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker

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Also in the bunker was a BBC Radio Room, very important in order to broadcast messages to the local population. Broadcasters could have included the Prime Minister, shown on the right as a grinning Margaret Thatcher - Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker

eng5702 Other rooms include a Sick Bay (pictured), dormitories, a Central Operations Room, water tanks, filter and plant rooms, Scientists Room, Communications Room, kitchen and washrooms - Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker

eng6205 Hastings is a coastal town in south east England, just over an hour from London

eng6209 The cliffs give way to a shingle beach and the English Channel - Hastings

eng6208 These black Net Shops were originally built in the 19th century to store fishing gear. Some have now been converted into fish stalls and an outside museum - Hastings

eng6216 There's two funiculars, one on the east of town and one on the west, which take you up the cliffside and provide a great opportunity to view the beach and look seawards - Hastings

eng6214 Hastings Castle was built by William the Conqueror in the 11th century - Hastings

eng6203 Looking westwards to the pier - Hastings

eng6200 The town centre seafront looks good from a distance but it's a bit run down - Hastings

eng6220 A few kms from Hastings is the site known to all British schoolchildren. The Battle of Hastings is situated at, funnily enough, the town of Battle

The Battle of Hastings took place here in 1066, pitting local King Harold against the Frenchman William, Duke of Normandy. Spoiler alert! William won, becoming known as William the Conqueror - Battle

eng5729 Bletchley Park was the top secret (even higher: ultra secret) World War II site of the British codebreakers. They worked tirelessly on intercepting and decrypting German messages, as well as Japanese and Italian, sent over the airwaves

eng5730 Inside the Mansion are various props from the 2014 film The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Kiera Knightley, on display until mid-2016 - Bletchley Park

eng5732 A mock up of a bar from The Imitation Game. Cumberbatch played computer scientist and mathematician Alan Turing who, in a group including Gordon Welchman, and inspired by Polish cryptologists (neither portrayed in the film), created the Bombe machines that cracked Germany's encrypted messages - Bletchley Park

eng5719 In order to send encrypted messages the Germans made thousands of Enigma machines, originally invented at the end of World War I. Type a letter via the keyboard and a series of rotors and wires changed it to a different letter - Bletchley Park

eng5758 Demonstrations of the Bombe machine are made at regular intervals in Block B, showing how 159 million million million(!) possible combinations created by the Enigmas were reduced to just over 600. These were then investigated using brain power, plus lots of paper and pencils - Bletchley Park

eng5742 Hut 3 was where the Wrens (Women's Royal Naval Service) entered the approved codes into the Bombes - Bletchley Park

eng5743 As the demand on the codebreakers grew, the number of personnel also increased and more buildings were required. Messages were passed from Hut 3 to Hut 6 for deciphering - Bletchley Park

eng5744 In 1982 Gordon Welchman published a book called The Hut Six Story, which was disapproved of by the British and US organisations he worked for - Bletchley Park

eng5751 Inside Hut 6 are the Message Registration Room, Interception Control Room and Decoding Room - Bletchley Park

eng5755 Alan Turing's office is in Hut 8. In 1952 he was found guilty of gross indecency at a time when homosexuality was illegal in Britain. He died in 1954 after a suspected suicide - Bletchley Park

eng5761 In Block B there's a sculpture of Alan Turing made from half a million pieces of Welsh slate. It's estimated the Bletchley Park codebreakers shortened WWII by two years and saved countless lives - Bletchley Park