Cley Hill

Cley Hill is a substantial Iron Age hillfort located on a prominent site some two miles west of Warminster. It occupies an unusual location, built upon an outlier or isolated segment of chalk rising from 240 m (775 ft) above the surrounding clayland.

It has a Devil legend attached to it. The Devil was travelling from Somerset carrying a huge sack of earth, with which he intended to bury the town of Devises. The people of the town had offended him in some way probably by converting to Christianity.

On his way to the town he passed an old man and asked him how far it was to the town. The old man looked at the huge sack of earth on the Devil's back, and guessed his intentions. He told the Devil that he had been on his way to the town for years, and that his hair had turned grey during his long search. On hearing this the Devil lost heart and dropped the soil where he stood forming the hill.

It has also become an unofficial UFO observatory and for almost forty years has been a meeting place for UFO spotters, drawn by talk of lights, flying objects and other unidentifiable oddities.

Anyone who climbs the path to the top of the 240 metre (800 feet) hill and takes in the 360° view is certainly in the right place to witness extraterrestrial activity.

And if they do see anything, the nearby town of Warminster has a designated National Reporting Centre for UFOs - so people don't have far to go to make their findings known to the authorities.

For my part - I think I experienced Divine intervention, as I dropped my telephoto lens down the hill from about half way up and it survived!!!

If you want to blow the cobwebs away, Cley Hill's the place to go. Take a flask of tea! We will next time ( and I'll be double checking that I've closed and clipped up my camera bag so no other lenses go flying!!! )