The Two Remaining Sisters

If my love for winter trees was kindled anywhere, it was here on Cleeve Hill, overlooking Cheltenham. I lived here in my early twenties, drawn to the limestone escarpment as a beautiful place to train, and I must have run past these trees a hundred times at least on one of my favourite routes. There were once three sisters and it was a shock to find only two of these very old beech trees remaining today. A young tree has been planted as a replacement, so although I think they are now known as the twins, they will be the three sisters again one day. This spot holds very special memories for me.

I was here for a weekend rendezvous with TJ who had collected Quicksilver, her new steed, the day before. We enjoyed a short walk up on Cleeve Cloud before travelling on through Gloucester and Monmouth for a weekend on the Gower Peninsular. I've walked and run almost every mile of the most spectacular sections of the English and Welsh coastline (Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, Pembrokeshire) but the Gower has always eluded me. It will be a short adventure, but any kind of adventure feels good at the moment, and worth the stress of the previous few days, just clearing the decks in order to be able to escape.