View from the Top

Members of Olveston Countryside Group came for a walk round Filnore Woods last Saturday.  They were very enthusiastic as for some it was their first visit.  We strolled round the new wood in the Pylon Field, spotting the various trees and shrubs planted 13 years ago.  In December 1998 it was a field of mowing grass, but the tree canopy has now closed and the grass has disappeared.

The view from the top of Cowshed Field is as good as ever.  You can see from Marlwood School in the west, all the way round past Thornbury Golf Club, Chepstow on the River Severn, Oldbury School and Power Station, Lydney in the Forest of Dean, and Berkeley to North Nibley Monument in the east.

In the distance we could just make out the circle of trees on the top of May Hill (picture) near Mitcheldean.  They were planted in 1887 to commemorate Queen Victoria's golden jubilee.  In 1998 we planted a ring of beech trees near the viewpoint at Filnore Woods, so that one day people on May Hill will be able to see us in the distance.