Nina's Blog - Saturday 6th September 2025

Saturday 6th September 2025, 14:38

Stopped at the Curious Café in The Bath Road for a pot of tea and a slice of lemon drizzle cake after coming down from the hill



A woman passing my table on her way out said to me "You're looking great!". I'm all in red today

Then did a tour of the Bath Road charity shops. Nothing worth buying at the prices they were asking.

And now I'm in Bath Road Beers having a half of Azvex Radioactive Worms IPA, really good.

Sunday 7th September 2025, 09:41

After the survey marker it was time to head back. so I asked Osmand~ to plot a route. It didn't direct me back the way I came but instead down the north eastern side of the hill.

On the way I found that someone had had a fire

Here's the view from the same spot. I imagine that they lit it at night, must have been quite a view then.

The route down was a little more challenging than the route up



After a bit o a scramble I got down to the wide main thoroughfare

Along the path I met several parties of walkers and a couple of cyclists pushing there bicycles up the path. One of the walkers, a woman, said "Your brave going barefoot." I think she might have thought me even braver had she seen me scrambling down the narrow tracks and stream beds a few minutes before.

Saturday 6th September 2025, 22:42

Now some of the promised pictures from the walk up Leckhampton Hill. The delay was due to a lot of bother organizing accommodation for the week after next when I'll join my sister for a holiday before she goes into hospital.

About a third of the way up, or perhaps a quarter. Looking back at Cheltenham. First with my mobile then with a longer lens on my Sony compact ultrazoom


There are a few grand houses on the way

Then the road ends and we're in the woods

After three or four minutes walk I came to a clearing where lots of paths came together and just a few metres away from the path that my map said i should follow I saw an information board



After a bit of a slog up the steep path I came to a point here I could see the town between the trees



A few minutes later I was in the clear space above the Devil's Chimney where I took a panorama

And another telephoto

Looking the other way I saw that I had some way to go before getting to the top of the hill

The path takes a relatively easy route

More later.

Sunday 7th September 2025, 08:59

After taking the cloud picture I headed for the top of the hill. When I came to the turning I saw a sign saying that this was part of the Cotswold Way.


I turned left towards the top of the hill which is an open grassy space. It's only just dawned on me what is odd about it. The grass was short yet there are no sheep. The hill forts that I am most familiar with either have sheep and short grass like Uffington or are pretty much wild and unkempt like Liddington.

Here's the view from the top

And a topograph in memory of someone called Roger Nixon


My digs in Pittville are at roughly 60 m above sea level, Cheltenham generally a few metres lower so I've climbed about 240 m.

When I got to the topograph I took some selfies but I've already posted a couple of those.

Here's a view of the top of the hill including the topograph.

And from about the same spot but looking in the opposite direction a view of Cheltenham

And at the actual highest point of the hill is the official Ordnance Survey topographical survey marker, now disused in these days of GPS


The wind is pretty constant and affects the growth of the vegetation

Sunday 7th September 2025, 08:54

When I spoke to Martin Fry, the photographer, he made the point that one of the pictures I was admiring included quite a lot of sky with a cloud in it and that for him that cloud was an important feature of the photograph. Without the cloud he would not have included it in the display. So i've been paying slightly more attention to clouds

Sunday 7th September 2025, 08:40

I'd better post some more of yesterday's pictures before I fall too far behind.

Here's the Devil's Chimney



And some of the flora around it

Saturday 6th September 2025, 15:18

Today's outfit is my 'kilt' and a lacy red top.

What a pretty place

Great pictures, as always.