“Whoever mentioned nation life was boring was clearly in mattress with the flawed individuals” is the tagline of the brand new Disney+ adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s sensible “bonkbuster” Rivals. And if wherever can emulate higher class nation life, 80s glamour and the scandal-touting settings of a Cooper novel, it’s Tetbury within the Cotswolds.   

Impressed by her life in Gloucestershire in the course of the 70s and 80s, when it appeared that “everybody within the nation was at it”, Cooper wrote Riders, Rivals, Polo and 7 different novels set within the fictional county of Rutshire. Referred to as the Rutshire Chronicles, the Cooperverse is a scrumptious deep dive into the raunchy lives of countryside society as seen by means of the lens of showjumping, flat racing, polo, artwork and the TV business.

A young person of the 80s, I’m a long-time fan of her novels, notably Rivals, which is about TV franchise rivalry. It’s a scrumptious sex-filled romp set within the Cotswolds, which, in keeping with Cooper is “the place the morals are as little as the fences are excessive”. Obsessive about the tales of protagonists Rupert Campbell-Black (Conservative MP, Olympic showjumper and racehorse coach), Lord Tony Baddingham (managing director of Corinium Tv) and Declan O’Hara (TV presenter), I reckon I’ve learn Rivals near 40 occasions and really feel like I do know Cotchester as if I grew up there.

So, once I discovered in regards to the new Disney+ adaptation, I needed to see Tetbury, one in every of its filming areas. The ensemble solid will function David Tennant as Baddingham, Aidan Turner as O’Hara, Danny Dyer as self-made tech millionaire Freddie Jones and Katherine Parkinson as Lizzie Vereker, a romantic novelist.

Scattered with honey-stoned cities and villages, rolling stud farms and gated Elizabethan estates, it’s simple to see why Cooper was impressed to set her books on this nook of Gloucestershire. Taking part in the function of Cotchester, the fictional city the place Corinium Tv is predicated, Tetbury is the second largest city within the Cotswolds. Till now, it was finest identified for its royal connections – King Charles and Queen Camilla reside moments away in Highgrove (a six-minute drive), and Princess Anne is predicated at Gatcombe Park (12 minutes).

It’s an exquisite bluebird day as I arrive in Tetbury and the roads are lined with the quintessential Cotswold stone cottages, all basic pale-green doorways and hanging baskets blooming with color. On this Friday morning, the native hairdressers, farm shops and guide retailers are all vigorous with enterprise. I be part of residents within the Cotswold Espresso Bar on Church Road, the place I individuals watch whereas having fun with a flat white and a toasted teacake.

On the coronary heart of the city is the custard-coloured, seventeenth century Market Home, the place there are weekly markets on Wednesdays, with a few dozen stalls promoting largely native produce, and Saturdays, when you’ll be able to decide up vegetation, bric-a-brac, previous books and jewelry. It additionally homes avenue merchants in between – at present’s have been promoting sheepskin merchandise.

Spidering away from the Market Home, Tetbury’s extensive streets and cobbled lanes are dotted with twee tearooms, antiques retailers and deliciously costly delis, resembling Martin and Malthouse, which sells native meats and cheeses, tremendous wines and olive oils from its household farm in Greece. I feel Lola & Co Tapas Bar and Deli on Lengthy Road could be stiff competitors for Bas Baddingham’s Bar Sinister in Rivals.

There’s additionally an previous English inn referred to as the Snooty Fox, a Highgrove Store promoting HRH-stamped biscuits, and, somewhat fabulously, a girls’ boutique referred to as Fillys, a purveyor of jazzy apparel. Together with the ruddy-faced, Barbour-clad males and formidable girls sporting headscarves and chunky assertion necklaces, and strolling canines with curly tails, the backdrop is so like Cotchester that I absolutely count on to see Rupert Campbell-Black falling out of the Cotchester Arms clutching a blowsy blonde.

Matthew Nichol from the Tetbury Customer Info Centre is equally excited in regards to the present and was witness to a lot of the filming over the summer season.

“The Rivals solid and crew spent the primary week of August right here and our Tetbury indicators have been changed with Cotchester ones, whereas many companies on Lengthy Road had their fronts modified to appear like Nineteen Eighties shows,” he says.

In keeping with Nichol, the city additionally welcomed some fabulous previous automobiles. Berkeley Home, reverse The Chipping automobile park, was used as Hamilton Terrace, Cameron Prepare dinner’s home, whereas St Mary’s Church grew to become St Agnes and St Isaac Cotchester for a marriage scene. The sequence was additionally filmed in Bristol, Castlewood in Somerset and Corsham in Wiltshire.

In keeping with studies, Cooper has very a lot been readily available all through the manufacturing. She lives in Bisley, (20 minutes north) and turned on the Christmas lights in Tetbury final yr. However whereas Cooper is a Cotswolds treasure, most Tetbury visitors comes by way of Highgrove, which attracts round 40,000 guests a yr. However this might all change come Friday.

“Whereas we’re not but a pilgrimage web site for Jilly Cooper followers, we on the Vacationer Info Centre hope that subsequent yr there can be some curiosity,” says Nichol.

“Chavenage Home attracts in lots of Poldark followers, so we hope Rivals can have the identical impact.”

A resident of the realm, Jen Le Marinel, is just not a Cooper fan.

“There have been some challenges on the town on filming days – particularly in case you wanted to get wherever shortly – however I believed the excitement was somewhat enjoyable,” says the Tetbury-based coach and coach.

“And I’m intrigued to see how Tetbury, modified to suit the 80s, comes throughout on display screen,” she provides.

Natalie York, who runs The Royal Oak pub, says: “I hope it should draw extra consideration to Tetbury, which is much less well-known than the crowded basic Cotswold cities like Bourton-on-the-Water and Stow-on-the-Wold.

“I feel Rivals being filmed right here can solely be a optimistic for the city.”

I’m staying on the Hare & Hounds, a rustic lodge in Westonbirt on the outskirts of Tetbury, the place the solid and crew stayed throughout filming this summer season. In-built 1860, in pale Cotswold stone, its grand neo-Renaissance most important lodge, fashionable coachhouse rooms and wooded grounds definitely match the Cooperverse aesthetic. Like most properties within the Cotswolds, it’s canine pleasant and my very own hound, Miss Babs, notably enjoys romps by means of Silk Wooden within the lovely Westonbirt Arboretum reverse.

On the outskirts of Tetbury is Chavenage Home, a sprawling Elizabethan property that doubles as Penscombe, the ancestral residence of Rupert Campbell-Black (Poldark followers may additionally recognise it as Trenwith). It’s owned by Caroline Lowsley-Williams, an avid fan of Cooper’s work who is alleged to have helped location scouts by suggesting native homes to make use of for different characters. At the moment closed to guests, I handle to sneak a peek by means of the gates within the useless hope I’ll catch a glimpse of Rupert enjoying nude tennis.

Whether or not you desire a lusty bunk-up in a timbered teaching inn, a secret tryst in a boutique lodge or a romantic weekend romping round a rustic home property, the Cotswolds is the right place to dip a toe into the splendidly wanton Cooperverse.

Getting there
The closest practice station is Kemble, seven miles exterior of Tetbury.   

Staying there
The Hare & Hounds affords basic double rooms, with breakfast ranging from £125 per night time, cotswold-inns-hotels.co.uk  

Extra data 
visittetbury.co.uk