Guided Walking this Month
We try to keep visitors to our website up-to-date with the sights and sounds of our guided walks as they change through the seasons.
Walking in December
Chris and a couple of friends chose one of the coldest days of winter so far, to walk in the highest, most exposed part of the Cotswolds, Cleeve Hill. Not exactly an internationally-ranked peak at just above one thousand feet above sea level! However, as we set off from the exposed western side of the hill, conditions were arctic in the wind.
The unimproved limestone grassland was still bright green and as we reached the shelter away from the western face the beech trees were spectacular in their autumn dress. The avenue of trees was reminiscent of Vermont, USA, but in miniature.
Among the trees, the flocks of finches were spectacular. Chaffinches, greenfinches goldfinches and yellowhammers, all rising as we crunched through the beech mast. Every now and then we encountered a blackbird turning the leaves, looking for a meal.
‘Where have all the pigs gone?’ we wondered. We couldn’t account for their absence after centuries of feeding amongst the mast. We speculated that perhaps the farmers prefer to keep an eye on them now.
Having climbed back to the tops, via the ancient sheep dip, we were happy to take shelter at the site of a modern mill amongst the larch trees. In spring I marvel at the trees’ soft green needles that seem to change each day. Now in autumn, they offer another spectacle as they slowly change from soft caramel to rust.
Lunch was spent parodying Shakespeare – ‘We small band of brothers..’ etc. As we set-off after lunch we came to the conclusion that we were, in fact, quite mad!
The ascents and descents seemed to become steeper as the afternoon wore on. Our rewards were many as we spotted stonechats on the dry stone walls, corn buntings on the golf course, and as we came upon the last of the trees, a buzzard flew off, and in a nearby field full of teezles, a charm of goldfinches was feeding.
Eventually, of course we found the pub, and sat looking out over the Malvern Hills and the Severn Vale. By the second pint we were all agreed that it had been a wonderful day out!
Guided Walks | Guided Walking this Month
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