Hopesay Hill and Wart Hill

Hopesay lies in a side valley off the Clun valley – so quiet that it should have been listed with the latter’s “quietest places under the sun”. Its hill, owned by the National Trust, is an airy grassy ridge, adorned by a well-placed clump of trees. Wart Hill, immediately to the north of Hopesay Hill, is clad in forestry pines, which thin towards its top sufficiently to appreciate how good the view would be if they were all cut down… It’s Easter Sunday, but there are few others about – one or two walkers, a farmer tending his sheep. And, of course, the buzzards – and red kites (or possibly one red kite three times). One landed in a tree close by, a brief glimpse of colour before he was away again, too quick for the camera (or its operator…)