A shadowy sky over Cotswolds

I managed to get everything packed up and the work done for now, in time to leave Bristol in daylight. The wind was breezy and clouds were back to the westerly pattern which is more normal for this region.

I drove up the motorway to turn off north up the A46, which is the main road north from Bath to Stroud and all the way along the Cotswold escarpment and up towards Lincolnshire. It is a road I've driven on for decades and have never tired of, sweeping across the open farmland, through wooded parks, small hamlets and past several ancient burial mounds such as Nan Tow's Tump and Leighterton long barrow. (The former is one of the largest round barrows in Gloucestershire, named after Nan Tow, who was a local witch said to be buried standing upright in the barrow. Near Leighterton is a massive 80 metre long barrow of the Cotswold Severn group, which can be seen walled in across a couple of fields, and now covered by large trees. Partially excavated in about 1700, the barrow was found to have had at least three vaulted burial chambers within it, with cremation urns in each. )

By the time I had reached a suitable parking place, the wonderful light I had been enjoying had disappeared, somewhat veiled by the massive high clouds which was blowing swiftly across the wide sky. But I liked the effect of the light in this shot, with the communications mast, so tiny in the distance that you probably can't even see it, lit up by the bright sun.