Just
outside Cheltenham is Cleeve Hill,
the highest point in the area. We couldn't resist stopping the car and making a quick climb up the hill. The hillside is a Common, open area
for public use (mostly recreation now, probably grazing in the past). The hill is full of strange humps and bumps, including
a ring in the ground supposed to be of Iron Age origin. A sign informed
us that adders were "very active" on the common, but we didn't see any.
The view from the heights was dramatic, even on a grey and misty day. On a clear day, you can see 60 miles into Wales, apparently. We could see the city of Cheltenham spread out in the valley, as well as numerous tiny villages tucked into the folds of the hills.
Chris met a local resident on the hill who invited us over for tea. We spent a pleasant couple of hours with Jim and his wife Kay, chatting about local archaeological finds, modern building restrictions, and more. Even though we had to forego some of the things we had planned to do that day, the chance to break out of the tourist mold and talk with Jim and Kay in their home was well worth it, and much appreciated.
Both the beauty and the stiff wind blowing off the sea are breathtaking here, along the southern shore of England near Lewes. Other than some hikers in the parking lot and a woman walking her dog far down along the beach, we were the only people on this rolling and windswept ground. We parked our car at the Seven Sisters Country Park in late afternoon and set off for the cliffs, walking first through a flat meadow with a winding river where tiny ponies grazed. Then we connected with the South Downs Way, a public footpath that goes a long distance through this area of the country. The path headed uphill through sheep meadows. After a little climb we came to the Seven Sisters, a series of rolling hills with chalk cliffs that drop suddenly away to the ocean far below. There are no fences, and it kind of makes your head spin to get even a little bit close to the edge, realizing how easy it would be to... just... fall... off....
Up on the hills there were sheep, and in the fields away from the cliffs we saw tremendous colonies of huge grey rabbits -- we'd see fifteen or twenty rabbits in the field ahead of us, but when we got ten yards away they would suddenly scatter, disappearing into the brambles or down holes. Then we'd come upon a dozen more, and the same thing would happen again. We also saw a big heron or similar bird by the river, as well as some ducks and a single swan.
On the way back to Tunbridge Wells, we drove through the tiny village of Wilmington. We were looking for the Long Man of Wilmington and we found him, carved in the side of a hill. We also spotted a white horse carved into another hillside, which our guidebook had not told us about.
