An accident in The Heavens

Whilst at my desk this morning I heard the classic sound of a helicopter's rotors cutting through the air. I looked out of the window and spotted the Great Western Air Ambulance charity helicopter coming slowly down towards the ground a little way beyond our back garden.

Our home backs onto a junction of two small valleys formed by little streams cutting down through the layers of limestone and clay. The far valley is called The Heavens and we nickname it Happy Valley as much of this part of Stroud likes to random across its fields and woodland as if it was a park or common land. In fact it is private farm land but the owners face the facts that everyone treats is as their own.

The helicopter landed behind the big trees between the valleys out of my sight. I decided to grab a camera and walk down the path beside out house to see if I could get a better view across the valleys. My picture is what I first saw, and then realised that someone must have had an accident in Happy Valley and the helicopter was needed to airlift them out as access is very difficult except on foot.

I walked back home as I didn't want to go to gap at the scene, so I don't know exactly what happened. I went back to my desk and after about forty minutes I heard the engine of the helicopter start up and a couple of minutes later it rose vertically up out of the valley and headed swiftly off, to Gloucester I expect. I watched it and took pictures but as a blip they left a lot to be desired.

So here are a walker with a dog and various people at the scene of the accident at the far left.  The helicopter attendant is walking back to their machine sitting on the meadow beside the stream, and hidden behind the large bush at the bottom right. You can vaguely make out the lime green colour of the chopper's bodywork. Lets hope they make a good recovery.