The view from Wellinghill

We set out from home this morning in unpromising weather - half light, and a gentle drizzle. But walking up from Charlton Kings, it gradually brightened, and by midday the sun had appeared.

This was taken a bit earlier, looking North-West over Harp Hill, towards the high ground beyond the River Severn in Hasfield parish and then on to the Malverns. Tewkesbury Abbey, 10 miles away as the crow flies, stands out clearly.

Bishop Kalilombe RIP

Those were the days when I was busy organising events for the Cheltenham RC Deanery: one such took place on Whit weekend 1984 at what was then Charlton Park Convent. We had a beautiful day for it, and a cake to match, in celebration of the Church's birthday.

Our special guest was Bishop Patrick Kalilombe, living here in exile from his native Malawi. The first Malawian White Father and first Malawian-born Bishop of Lilongwe, he proposed the idea of a self-ministering, self-reliant, self-propagating church in the spirit of Vatican II. All of which President Hastings Banda saw as sufficient threat for him to expel Bishop Pat from Malawi. Only in 1996 was he able to return.

Meanwhile, amongst other posts, he worked in the Mission Department at Selly Oak Colleges, and for one lovely afternoon in Cheltenham we had the benefit of his extremely fresh-sounding teaching.

Much of the above background information comes from an item in this week's Tablet, which reports the sad news of Bishop Pat's death on 24th September aged 79.

Wellinghill

Out of sight, below what you see in this photograph is Wellinghill Farm, so one may perhaps assume this is Wellinghill itself, though my books of reference don't go so far as to confirm this. Anyway, we passed down this way into Charlton Kings today at the end of a walk which began at Whittington.

The temperature both yesterday and today has been a good deal higher than last week, so no wonderland effects, though vestiges of snow remain on the top. In the watery sunshine, we passed the entrance to the old stone mines just West of Whittington, amidst trees tangled jungle-wise with very old man's beard. Below Colgate Farm, they are building a large stone house in traditional Cotswold style overlooking the reservoir: the next thing we shall see, no doubt, is notice of a request for a footpath diversion. Or the owners may just do what neighbours nearby have done: put horses in the field for long enough to turn the entire footpath area into a sea of mud.

Walking along the wall

Having commented on the capital investment - mainly European Union money - on the Via de la Plata, it was good this morning to note the progress with the walling along the Cotswold Way. A stretch of new stone wall 1,300 metres long is well on its way to completion, running along the top of Leckhampton Hill and marking the boundary of Charlton Kings Common. Natural England is bearing 80% of the cost of this large project, the total bill being (as I recall) more than £600,000.

When the work is finished, Dexter cattle will be able to graze the hillside without quite so much of the rather unsightly wire fencing needed in the past. Nevertheless, to complete the Common encirclement, a further 3kms. of walling is needed.

Meanwhile, the landscape at the top of our Hill is dotted with machinery and huge piles of both old and new stone. It makes you wonder at the creation of the original boundary walls, in an era of no dumper trucks.