Cooper's Hill is surrounded by some of the finest beech woodland on the Cotswold escarpment. The trees, many over 200 years old, form a dense canopy that filters the sunlight into a green cathedral of straight, silver-grey trunks. In spring, the woodland floor erupts with ramsons (wild garlic), whose pungent scent fills the air — you will smell it before you see it. Bluebells follow in late April, and early-purple orchids dot the clearings. The steep western slope — the same slope used for cheese rolling — is too precipitous for trees and is covered instead with unimproved limestone grassland. This combination of ancient woodland, grassland, and exposed rock creates a diverse habitat. Over 30 species of butterfly have been recorded here, including the white-letter hairstreak, which depends on the elms that survive in the hedgerows. Fallow deer, descendants of animals introduced by the Normans, move through the wood at dawn and dusk. Autumn brings a spectacular display of fungi — look for the red-capped fly agaric, the classic red-and-white toadstool of fairy tales, beneath the beeches. The Cotswold Way passes through this woodland, and the contrast between the quiet beech groves and the notorious cheese-rolling slope is striking.
“This combination of ancient woodland, grassland, and exposed rock creates a diverse habitat.”
