In 2000 when Armageddon never happened (a cock up due to mans tinkering with the original calendar) we relocated from Egham in Surrey (under the Heathrow flight path) to the quiet of Stroud a picturesque town in the secret Cotswolds, Gloucestershire.

Stroud is a very green and arty little town located in the heart of five valleys and we are located on the outskirts of the top of town, overlooking The Heavens. Looking west we can see over Stroud, over the River Severn, over the Forest of Dean and on to the hills of Monmouthshire in Wales. 40 something miles as the crow flies.

HEAVEN IS
No more aircraft noise from Heathrow just the bleating of the sheep on the opposite side of the valley. The only things flying in the sky's are hot air balloons, gliders and because of the geology of the five valleys, it's a Mecca for all sorts of Paragliders, Handgliders and Microlites.

Aircraft noise has always been a particular hatred of mine as I was born and grew up in Bedfont, east Bedfont to be precise, west Bedfont being swallowed up by Heathrow.

(Picture right)
This is our view from the bedroom, The Heavens is a house hidden behind the clump of trees in the center of the picture but locals refer to the valley below it as the Heavens. Our side of the valley is known as Adderbank. One way of getting to the Heavens is via the old Victorian cemetery, a fascinating place and nature reserve. I enjoy the cemetery most days giving the dog her daily walks, on weekends we have a longer walk in to the the Heavens or one of the other valleys on our door step.

This is one of the views from the abandoned church in the cemetry, it's hard to photograph as there are panoramic views in most directions. The grave stones which are fasinating in themselves, tell the stories of those who have gone before us, like poor Ronald Henry Rutter who died in 1912 on his first birthday and his mother Edith who died 9 months later aged 21. The grave stones also bear the third highest amount of lychens than any other graveyard in England, if that doesn't rock your boat, then maybe some of the other wildlife will. Walk slowly on a sunny day and you might be lucky enough to see lizards, adders or slow worms sun bathing an the graves and on summer evenings glow worms glowing in the long grass. The grass isn't cut for most of the year as part of the nature conservation which is ironic as Edward Budding the inventor of the lawn mower is supposed to be burried here. Below are some pictures taken from the cemetery on my daily dog walk.