{"id":10894,"date":"2026-04-10T08:38:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T08:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/10894\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T08:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T08:38:12","slug":"brutal-jibe-from-gloucestershire-councillor-as-he-describes-bristol-as-mordor-and-slams-somerset-cider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/10894\/","title":{"rendered":"Brutal jibe from Gloucestershire councillor as he describes Bristol as ‘Mordor’ and slams Somerset cider"},"content":{"rendered":"

Calls for county to ‘remain in The Shire’ by partnering with Herefordshire and Worcestershire<\/p>\n

06:00, 10 Apr 2026Updated 06:04, 10 Apr 2026<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The city of Bristol has been likened to the bleak fortress realm of Mordor from The Lord of The Rings. Inset is the eye of Sauron from the blockbuster film trilogy based on the JRR Tolkien novel.(Image: Western Daily Press\/New Line Cinema)<\/p>\n

Bristol has been likened to Mordor in a debate on Gloucestershire\u2019s <\/a>devolution options as councillors say they prefer to “remain in The Shire\u201d with Herefordshire and Worcestershire.<\/p>\n

Local government is being reorganised across England and as part of it the county would partner up with neighbouring authorities to make strategic decisions for a wider area.<\/p>\n

The Bristol-centric West of England Combined Authority (WECA) is the preferred option for Gloucestershire among the leadership of six out the county’s seven main councils and it is seen as the best option economically<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But Tewkesbury Borough Council <\/a>wants to keep the option of joining Herefordshire and Worcestershire in a Three Counties combined authority on the table.<\/p>\n

A debate on the options at the council earlier this week conjured up visions of JRR Tolkien\u2019s fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings as one prominent Conservative councillor likened the city of Bristol to the bleak, fortress realm of Mordor.<\/p>\n

Winchcombe Councillor David Gray said: \u201cI looked for an analog in terms of Gloucestershire and how we might integrate and I found one in terms of an area that is peaceful, a rural life, farms, rolling hills and beauty and that is The Shire in the Lord of the Rings.<\/p>\n

\"Winchcombe<\/p>\n

Winchcombe Councillor David Gray likened Gloucestershire to The Shire from Lord of The Rings(Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if I think about that, Mordor looks to me very like Bristol in that analogy.\u201d<\/p>\n

He fears joining WECA would lead to a lot of the funding being spent in the Bristol area and Gloucestershire would miss out.<\/p>\n

And that it would be inevitable that parts of the county would be pulled into the city’s orbit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like visiting Bristol,\u201d he told the Tewkesbury Borough Council meeting on April 7.<\/p>\n

\"Councillor<\/p>\n

Councillor David Gray (inset) likened the city of Bristol to Mordor. Pictured is an aerial view of the city including the tower blocks in Barton Hill.<\/p>\n

\u201cBristol, to me, is not a cool place to visit. It’s a place you want to get out of as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo in that light, I recognise all the economic arguments as to why we might go with favouring WECA but I do think that it makes sense to us on this one to sit on the fence.”<\/p>\n

He said serious consideration should be given to the option of joining with Worcestershire and Herefordshire to form part of a Three Counties combined authority.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat has got many advantages and culturally, there is a lot more for us in that area,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Gretton\"<\/p>\n

Gretton near Winchcombe(Image: Annie Jenkins)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can be our own cool kids in terms of having the best environment, the best nature, the best rivers. All of the things Gloucestershire has to offer.”<\/p>\n

Fellow Conservative Councillor Paul McLain (Highnam with Haw Bridge) differed from Cllr Gray in his opinion of Bristol and said he loved the city and has no problems with WECA.<\/p>\n

However, he does not see it as the best solution for the county and raised concerns about the risk of Gloucestershire taking on extra housing from the Bristol area.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in Tewkesbury we’re used to being something of a dump for Gloucester and Cheltenham,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Conservative<\/p>\n

Conservative Councillor Paul McLain said he loved Bristol but that the best ciders are not made in Somerset but in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.(Image: Getty\/Conservatives)<\/p>\n

\u201cI take no schadenfreude from Gloucestershire becoming a housing dump for the rest of WECA, but that is certainly a concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

He went on to say he would not \u201creference Mordor and The Shire\u201d but he did say the best cider is made in the Three Counties and not Somerset.<\/p>\n

\u201cMuch as I love Somerset cider, the best ciders come from Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire orchards,” he said.<\/p>\n

Towards the end of the meeting he said Gloucestershire should remain open minded about its options.<\/p>\n

\"Washing<\/p>\n

Washing the apples before pressing pictured during a tour of Dunkertons Cider Co in Cheltenham in 2017.(Image: Anna Lythgoe)<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we end up with WECA, we don\u2019t want to burn those bridges but by the same token we as an authority, I think, need to show that we at least have considered both options and we are open minded.<\/p>\n

“While many of us might prefer The Shire, and, I\u2019m not saying Bristol is Mordor. It\u2019s not. We love you Bristol.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do love Bristol but my inclinations go with those cider makers.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is currently no clear timetable on a decision from ministers on which area, if any, Gloucestershire partners with.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Calls for county to ‘remain in The Shire’ by partnering with Herefordshire and Worcestershire 06:00, 10 Apr 2026Updated…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[5188,4872,3016,3017,5186,14,5189,5187,5,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-10894","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"tag-cheltenham","9":"tag-cotswolds","10":"tag-gloucester","11":"tag-gloucestershire","12":"tag-jrr-tolkien","13":"tag-politics","14":"tag-rural-gloucestershire","15":"tag-tewkesbury-borough-council","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116379510606231451","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}