Nov 2024 - Cleeve Hill (also known as Cleeve Cloud) is the highest point both of the Cotswolds hill range and of the county of Gloucestershire, at 330m. It is located on Cleeve Common, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It commands a clear view to the west, over Cheltenham and the racecourse, over the River Severn and into Wales; and to the north over Winchcombe. It is a conspicuous outcrop on the edge of the limestone escarpment, (sometimes called the "Cotswold Edge"). It is crossed by the Cotswold Way footpath. The actual summit is a nondescript point marked by a trig point on the relatively flat common south of the Hill. Because of this, it does not offer particularly wide-ranging views. To the north by the northwest, another summit at 315m high boasts a toposcope and a trig point, offering far wider views. On an exceptionally clear day (for example a sunny day following a day of rain in spring or early summer), the view extends an impressive 90miles to Winsford Hill on Exmoor, Somerset. All of the above is obviously lifted from Wikipedia, and, although I occasionally use personifying words such as ‘boasts’, ‘offers’ and ‘commands’ when describing such things as a view, these overused and predictable verbs really make me cringe. I really enjoyed this walk even though the views were limited from the common itself due to the gloom. Left Southampton at 0530 and was walking by 0745. I encountered some early morning deer and, oddly, a grave in the woods south of the start point. I’d actually gone into the cover for a pee, but then decided on another deposition site out of respect. Fallen saturated leaves and wet eroded chalk is the perfect slip combo so I slithered down the descents carefully. Once away from the common itself, I saw very few folk. There were some lovely dilapidated buildings though and the colours of the trees throughout the walk were tremendous. Breakheart Plantation in particular was beautiful as was the sheepdog that greeted me at Lithe Barn farm. I visited the spring and old sheep-dip to the northeast of the common before rising up onto the common itself. A huge part of it is a golf course and I did wonder how many people get struck by balls. Non-golfplaying folk outnumbered golfers easily. If the shocking shots I witnessed from the ‘golfers’ were anything to go by, I’d imagine dozens of people get struck on a daily basis. I can’t believe I wasted so much time on golf when I was younger. In retrospect, it’s like a tragic rite of passage for postgraduate professional men - go to ChavDirect, spend your meagre wages on a golf set (including a glove, a glove for fuck’s sake), and then very rapidly realise you are shit at golf, you don’t enjoy it, it wastes time on a precious Sunday (which you are conscious of at all times whilst playing), and you were just conforming to a stereotype which led you to being part of a group of colleagues who all feel the same way. I did enjoy the common though, didn’t get hit by a golf ball, and had lunch on a bench next to a kind of memorial tree. In Deya taproom now as I write this.