The Cotswolds are a range of hills in southwestern and west-central England, an area 25 miles across and 90 miles long. The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The highest point in the Cotswolds range is Cleeve Hill at 1,083 ft, 2.5 miles to the north of Cheltenham.
The Cotswolds lie mainly within the counties of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, but extend into parts of Wiltshire, Somerset, Worcestershire, and Warwickshire. The hills give their name to the Cotswold local government district in Gloucestershire, which administers a large part of the area.
In June 1981 Len and Rita Fairclough enjoyed a holiday in the region and the place was visited again for a post-Christmas break by Ken Barlow and Alma Sedgewick in December 1991 when they stayed at an unnamed hotel. The visit was cut short though when Alma confessed to sleeping with Mike Baldwin, causing Ken to check out of the hotel and return home. Rita visited the area again in June 1992 for her honeymoon after her marriage to Ted Sullivan and in December 2000 Natalie Barnes sold the Rovers and moved to the Cotswolds to live with her cousin Helen where she gave birth to her daughter Laura.