#7: Cleeve Hill - Dowdeswell

Thistle Heads

Car wreck - from where?

Bench and Trees

The most memorable aspects of today's walk will be the spectaular views from Cleeve Hill. Looking over Cheltenham and its racecourse you can see the Severn Bridge 43 miles away to the south, the Brecon Beacons 70 odd miles to the west and to the Clent Hills over 40 miles to the north west - all across the valley of the River Severn. And at one point you can see Gloucester Cathedral, Tewkesbury Abbey and just about see Worcester Cathedral. Is there anywhere else that one view can take in more than three of our cathedrals and abbeys? I found just 3 B&W pictures today plus a few more that I would have taken had the light been right or the breeze a lot less. I may return to a couple of shots in future.

Beautiful large thistles were in abundance along a few stretches of the walk with their flower heads on the verge of bursting open; very photogenic. Beautiful unspoilt nature and natural habitat has been the essence of the Cotswold Way so far. Most of the walk has been litter and rubbish free so it came as real shock to find an old wrecked burnt out car embedded in a hedgerow at a place where I couldn't see any way that a car could have got there. It's almost as if it had dropped in from on high!