A Local Walk (part 2)

Leaving Coaley Peak I backtracked
up the road slightly towards
a wee place by the name of...

Here (just before the first house)
I picked up a footpath which took me down
into woodland once again.
Here I was menaced by the
woodsedge along the path side

but also enjoyed spotting
some slimemold














and other boscy dwellers















After a little while I emerged from the woodland
into the upper reaches of the village of Uley
(that's "you-lee" to the un-initiated!)

I was amused to find that Uley has an old
style petrol station which I wouldn't normally
spot driving through the village.
It stated that it was "Open" and I momentarily
believed it! (I wonder how much petrol was the
last time it WAS open!)
It is now of course, merely preserved
for show.

Another unusual feature to Uley is its Brewery,
producing only its own local ale.
A pint of this suited as a lunchtime refresher.

Suitably refreshed after this I headed out
of Uley climbing over "Uley Bury", an Iron age
hill fort which also has archeological evidence for
a Romano-british pagan temple.
Unfortunately rain stopped play
with my camera here. Await another blog.

After the climb up, a decent towards
the base of Cam Long Down














In this dip between hills wild clematis and dog rose
bloomed




























I then followed the Cotswold Way
once again,














with views of Downham Hill
to my left














and back to Coaley Peak on my right




























This time I took a route skirting around the lefthand side
of Cam Long Down






















Then I crossed over the "saddleback" and down
across fields once again.........















...over stiles.....















......and through gates, heading for Upper Cam
















where once across the Cam river again I was
on the homeward straight!
















A very satisfactory 5 hour round trip, I hope you'll
agree!

A Local Walk (Part 1)

This is going to have loads of pictures, so I've split a day's walk over several blogs. Some come from a walk a few weeks ago, others from a walk on 1st July.
The first section from home heads across the little river Cam,














and over a stile or two...



and through quiet pastoral scenes...





























in the direction of Coaley village.















When I walked this way a few weeks ago Coaley
was having an "Open Gardens" event, and several
addresses had created scarecrow figures.
I particularly like this one outside the old school building.

This time when I walked past I discovered the figure
had come to life!

Leaving Coaley I continued uphill
and into a quiet little lane,

made not so quiet by haymaking while the sun shone
(well it was when they started), last time I passed by


The lane ended at the edge of woodland....

..from where I picked up the Cotswold Way to take me
onto the hilltop towards Coaley Peak.
The main appeal of Coaley Peak is for its super views,
but it is also a spot to discover numerous wildflowers,
butterflies etc. Its also convenient for a picnic
....or at least for an icecream!








This is also favoured spot for activities like flying kites,
model aircraft, or even paragliding. Proper glidering also
takes place from the airfield at Nympsfield nearby. It also
has a "long barrow" iron age burial site like this one which
goes by the lovely name of "Hetty Pegler's Tump",
although no-one called Hetty Pegler ever got buried here
that's for sure!


This blogs photos were a mixture of Flickr.com and
using the blogger photo adding icon. I have to say the
using the blogger one is very handy and alot quicker
than posting to flickr and then pasting the url into
the blog. I recommend this way!
My next section of the walk will be created shortly
just using the "new" approach.

Nibley hill again

Another hot and sunny afternoon, too nice simply to spend
the time watching Wimbledon.
I decided to visit Nibley hill again and enjoy a walk in cool,
shady woodland.
Parking my car in the village I set off
initially with a steep climb…….



……past knarled rooted old trees, clinging on to
their hold on the slope….



…finally emerging onto the hill top by the Tyndale monument.
This was erected as a memorial to William Tyndale who ended
his days burnt at the stake for having had the temerity to
translate the bible into (what was then) intelligible English.
It was (or is?) believed by some that this W. Tyndale was born
in North Nibley. Evidence suggests, however that it was merely
a namesake born here, not the martyr. No doubt the local
Tyndale would be very chuffed to have ended up with a memorial
to him at his native village.



Here seemed a good place to stop and catch my breath….



…..and enjoy the view…..



….before setting off across grassy meadow….



for the shade of the woodland with its maze of pathways.
Perfect for a peaceful communion with the natural world!



Finally, though I headed back out into the sunlit grassland
for a final look at the views before heading home for a
refreshingly cool drink.

A trip to the beach

Arriving in Dover at 9.30 today, I was in plenty of
time to have a chat with mum and dad before they
were off to Canterbury for an appointment.
They told me of there 7 mile walk of yesterday,
along the cliffs from Langdon. Obviously mum is
feeling fitter and stronger for having the treatment!
Once they went off at 10 a.m. I was left to my own
devices and had decided that today was the day
for my first swim in the sea for this year.





I recalled visiting the beach with the Brunein's
a few weeks back.



Today it was less breezey, although enough for a
group to be out sailing in the harbour. Last time
one man lay on the beach, sheltered behind a breakwater.
Today there were a scattering already, more arriving as
time past. So, in I went. After the initial shock of cold I
got into my stride and enjoyed 20 minutes swimming.
Then I returned home for a quick shower before going
off to Bridge to meet mum & dad at the White Horse pub for lunch.