Woodlands at the head of Toadsmoor valley

I had to drive up to the farm shop near Bisley to check on my card stock and buy a few vegetables and a large sack of sunflower seeds for the birds. I wandered back on a circuitous route down the Toadsmoor valley, which is running from right to left in the picture. The Toadsmoor stream surfaces from beneath the mound on which Bisley church was built about a mile and a half to the right on this horizon. The 'Bisley Wells' are renowned for the Well Dressing ceremony on Ascension Day, but may people probably don't realise that the water flowing from the springs have created this valley.

You can easily see the how this Cotswold landscape is known as the 'tops' when compared to the steep valleys cut down by the abundant water flowing out of the limestone over geological time. The various strata revealed create completely differing landscapes because of both the slopes and the rock types which are of course interrelated. One of the features is landslip, when the soft clays slide away over the harder limestone. The foreground is an example of that with lumpy ledges running along the hillsides' contours.

I parked at the top of the road climbing/dropping up/down the side of the valley just below where the village of Eastcombe has become established on the dry ground of the 'tops' on the east side of the valley. Straight across from where I was standing is the tiny hamlet of Lypiatt, beyond which is The Horns valley, formed by a parallel stream, where we live.

Once I saw the mixture of trees I had the irresistible urge to pull over to to record the scene. I only had my little Fujifilm with its fixed 23mm lens but it has done a fine job. I even did a panorama of this view comprising four images, which I nearly blipped instead. But I decided the tones and detail in this single image suit the format of Blip better. The panorama does look good though.