The Severn Vale from Haresfield Beacon

The break in the relentlessly rainy weather today revived my spirits and I decided to drive up to the edge of the Cotswold escarpment to look out over the Severn Vale and see if I could see how the floods were affecting the landscape.

I rang John W., who lives in Whiteshill on the edge of a hamlet close to Haresfield Beacon, and he was keen to join me. So we drove up there from his house, parked on the top edge of the steep escarpment and walked through the National Trust managed Iron Age hill fort to the Beacon. It has a unique viewpoint looking out over the Severn Vale with the Severn bridges in the south, the meandering and often flooded River Severn winding north, the Forest of Dean opposite and the Malvern Hills to the north-west.

With the rain expected again later this afternoon we both enjoyed the brief sunny respite, although the wind was still strong and quite exhausting. I love being up high and marvelling at the varied landscape we live in. I pity those who are down in the flooded lands nearer the river. Even the stretch of the river Severn in the distance where Slimbridge Wetland Centre is located looks wetter than usual.