Haresfield Beacon, Gloucestershire

Pip and Mary came from Bristol to visit us for a picnic and a walk. But the poor weather forecast turned out to be accurate so we had our picnic at home and inside the house. The heavy lunchtime showers really started tipping down as we sat round the table, eating and nattering.

But before long the sky brightened from the west and we set off for Haresfield Beacon, an Iron Age camp, strategically overlooking the whole Severn Vale. We walked around the National Trust site and sat in the warm sun for a while, before heading for along the promontory on the Cotswold escarpment, to where the Camp originally was. From afar we noticed a group of cows standing tightly together, at the very highest and furthest point of the Beacon, as if marking the spot.

As we eventually neared the high point I noticed several walkers who had passed us along the way. They were standing with the cows who seemed happy to share the views with all comers.

You can probably see the River Severn running from right to left towards the sea, in big meanders, with the Forest of Dean lying on the far side. In the distance, behind where the woman is standing, and on this side of the river, is Slimbridge, the wonderful Wildlife and Wetlands centre. Behind the man on the left, but about 30 miles further away, were the two motorway bridges over the Severn, linking England to South Wales. Not long before I took this picture, we could see the bridges clearly. The approaching rain clouds were now driving up the Vale bringing the next showers.

After a while, we turned to head back, and saw that the man, who I've pictured approaching the camera, was taking off from the top of the scarp slope with his paraglider. Sadly he only managed to descend down the side of the steep slope and landed at the bottom, with a long climb back to contemplate.