Ragwort

Up, and up to the plateau of Little Solsbury Hill.

Met a man called Michael.

Michael Tabb and other volunteers were uprooting Ragwort on behalf of the National Trust and other groups responsible for or interested in the access and common land around and about this Iron Age fort. Apparently, it does no good to cattle and horses and, while indigenous, is very invasive. Today, this little patch of common land - tomorrow the world!

I asked Michael about the bench now located just below the triangulation point erected by the Ordnance Survey atop Solsbury Hill and dedicated "Susan Guscott - in loving memory 1943-2009".

He explained that the seat is to the memory of the mother of Jeremy Guscott, a name familiar to fans of Bath and English rugby union.

Apparently, a second bench will shortly be installed overlooking Batheaston and dedicated to a Michael Parke.

Michael explained there is permission for a third and final bench on Little Solsbury Hill. Dying to secure one's place in this select and parochial pantheon seems a little drastic, but there you have it, if anyone's interested...