The Cotswolds to many all over the world bring to mind images of beautiful stone cottages, rolling countryside, quaint boutiques, and coffee shops selling afternoon teas galore. These images certainly wouldn’t be wrong, but if you’re from the Cotswolds you’ll have a lot more little secrets about the place than a visitor could ever know from flicking through a travel book or a brief trip. These eight things should ring pretty true to you if you are born and bred in the Cotswolds.

1. Everyone wears tweed

Who needs to trawl through fashion mags to get your clothing inspiration, tweed is always on trend in the Cotswolds. Whatever the season, whatever the weather, don your Tweed and you’ll fit in with the locals a treat.

2. You need to set off early for ‘traffic’

The ‘traffic’ in the Cotswolds is a little different to that of London or other towns and cities. Don’t get us wrong you’ll still find your traffic jams, but these are usually caused by an extremely slow tractor deciding not to pull over and let the huge queue of traffic from behind pass (Cotswold eticate!) or alternatively, some kind of sheep or cow situation whereby a farmer’s animals are on a rouge rampage down the road.

3. Cheese rolling

If you’re from the Cotswolds, this needs no explanation. If you’re not then you may not have heard of the crazy annual event that takes place in this neck of the woods where lots of people chase a ball of cheese down a very steep hill, often resulting in injuries, in order to win the ball of cheese. It is definitely one of the more bizarre traditions.

4. Everyone owns a dog (and wears wellies to walk them)

If you live in the Cotswolds and haven’t got a dog you’re sure to be the odd one out. It seems like every family owns a dog and takes them on walks in their wellies, usually Hunter, wearing tweed. In fact, it’s not just dogs that people in the Cotswolds like to have as pets, you’ll find many a farmyard animal kept in a family home; chickens running round houses and pigs in gardens treated as one of the family are not an unusual find.

5. Fresh eggs are the way forward

All across the Cotswolds you’ll find little signs on the side of the road advertising eggs on sale at excellent prices, straight from the farm as fresh as you can get. Why on earth would you buy your eggs from a supermarket when you could pick them up like this?

6. Expert pot-hole avoiders

Cotswold folk have had to learn to be great at pot-hole avoiding. If you’ve ever driven any of the narrow, windy, and pot-hole-filled roads around these parts you will see why. Accidentally hit a pot-hole at speed and you and your car will know about it!

7. Sunday roasts at your local

There isn’t much better way to spend your Sunday than in a pub, having a roast, and Cotswold pubs are some of the very best. Think roaring fireplaces, cozy armchairs, beautiful foods, and an array of drinks. Popping to your local for Sunday lunch in these parts is a no-brainer.

8. And finally… a key piece of advice… always avoid town at race week

With horse racing a really popular sport in Worcester, Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon, and of course, Cheltenham which hosts the Gold Cup, you will certainly have said on many occasions ‘I’m avoiding town this week, it’s the races’. Vast numbers of racegoers flock to these towns with a view to betting and partying. It can actually be quite good fun to get caught up in all the festivities, but traffic is guaranteed to be a nightmare, and prices for just about everything will be double.