The burden of daily life in the ‘most beautiful village’

Bibury was recently acclaimed for its beauty by Forbes’, but its popularity can bring many problems, reports Alex Ross

- Alex Ross

"Darling, isn't it beautiful", an American tourist says, turning to his partner, who appears to be failing in an attempt to take a panoramic picture on her iPhone.

On the last Friday of the summer, the tourist, along with hundreds of other enthusiastic visitors, are being treated to warm afternoon sunshine that beams off the rows of honey-hued cottages along the narrow streets.

A century ago, the future Japanese emperor Hirohito, so enthralled by the calm and charm of the Cotswold village, declared it a "sacred place". Not so long before, English textile designer, poet and artist William Morris described it as the "most beautiful village in England".

And this month, seemingly not wanting to be outdone, American business magazine Forbes proclaimed the community of just 600 people the "most beautiful village in the world" – a good thing for locals, right?

"My heart sank," says parish council chair Craig Chapman. "Whilst we are not anti-tourists, this will only bring more tourists just at a time we are working to get the right balance between the number of tourists and villagers.”

Mr Chapman moved into the community with his wife from nearby Chipping Campden during the Covid pandemic. “I really didn’t know Bibury, I didn’t know the situation,” he recalls.

Standing near the line of tourists walking by, he pulls out an A4 folder packed with clear sleeves showing pictures of inconsiderate parking, damage to stone walls and tells of how a coach driver even assaulted a villager.

The problem, Mr Chapman says, is the number of tours arriving in larger coaches - some 25 a day, according to a council survey in January - which he says block the roads and drop off short-stay tourists, who mostly stay only for an hour and offer little financial benefit to the businesses.