DG24012 Churchdown Hill , Gloucestershire V01 240324

There is an old expression applicable to both storytelling and writing that if you want to make a subject popular you must make it local. We are all guilty of having, in particular, our main historical and geographical interests confined to areas near where we live. It is amazing that with Social Media this enthusiasm for local interests has generated so many popular Local Groups with dedicated Administrators and Followers all willing to contribute their photos and stories. So in my case living in Redditch, Worcestershire my focus is upon South Worcestershire and South Warwickshire. But I owned a flat in Gloucester Docks for 17 years (2006-2023) so my focus was changed to this area of Gloucestershire. Being honest both historically and geographically the area around Gloucester had far more to offer than the areas around my home in Redditch. One of the outstanding geographical features was the Cotswold Escarpment and its outliers of Bredon Hill, Churchdown Hill and Robin’s Wood Hill. I have made it to the top of all three being taken back by the views. 

This post is focussed upon Churchdown Hill sometimes to confuse matters it is called Chosen Hill. Being an aviation enthusiast spending long periods at the Gloucester and Cheltenham Airfield at Staverton, Gloucestershire it offered a clear view of Churchdown Hill and you could even see St Bartholomews Church on top of it. It has a distinctive conical shape and rises to 607 feet (185 metres). So my initial objective was to climb it to view the airfield from a different perspective. Fortunately no climbing was involved since there is a narrow tarmac road that takes you right to the top with parking spaces. Once there the views are truly fantastic with all photographs failing to convey how high up you feel as you overlook the countryside. Inevitably it has become my go to destination especially if you want a setting to do some thinking and reflection.

Now whilst appreciating that geology inclusive of all the rock names makes the subject less attractive to most of the public it does account for the existence of many of the most striking geographical features with geology books highlighting these features. For many years I have owned “Geology Explained in the Severn Vale and Cotswolds” (1973) by William Dreghorn (1908-2001).The outstanding feature of this book is the inclusion of many sketches by William Dreghorn where they illustrate the subject of geology in a unique way with many oblique sectioned drawings of rock formations.

William Dreghorn's Book

Some sketches by William Dreghorn below out of this book.

Over the years I have viewed many maps showing the Cotswold Escarpment that the Cotswold Way runs along as a 102 mile walk from Chipping Camden to Bath but this map by William Dreghorn (1908-2001) is my favourite because of its simplicity and it shows clearly the Bredon Hill, Churchdown Hill and Robin's Wood Hill Outliers. With the Malvern Hills to May Hill being the other significant hills on the West side of the River Severn leading into the mysterious Forest of Dean.  

   

A simple sketch showing the rock formation below St Bartholomews

 Church on the top of Churchdown Hill. 

 

 

Some photographs taken by St Batholomews Church, Churchdown Hill, Gloucestershire.

 

A Google Geotag to a Steet View of St. Batholomews Church, Churchdown Hill, Gloucestershire.

http://www.google.com/search?q=51.8693188,-2.1730058

The Wikipedia link is below

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chosen_Hill,_Gloucestershire

William Dreghorn (1908-2001) spent his later years living in Cyprus where he contributed enormously to his new “local” setting. It once again emphasises the point that what is local to you most interests you. Although if you as a writer or artist document things as you progress through your life you can always go back to review and reflect on them.

View his bio on the link below.

https://cyprusscene.com/2016/07/17/william-dreghorn-exhibition-artrooms-girne-until-9th-september/

 With the constant danger of web resources you link to just disappearing I have copied some of the contents of this link below.

By Heidi Trautmann……

William Dreghorn (1908-2001)

Many friends and contemporaries of William Dreghorn had come together on the opening evening at the ArtRooms in Girne, Turkish Cypriot friends as well as British friends. He died in 2001, that was when we started building the house, and he was one of ‘the important things’ one learnt about Cyprus. I have never met him but have later written about some activities around his work initiated by the Dept of Antiquity, i.e. Prof. Dr. Müge Şefketoglu who knew him from childhood years and followed him – literally – with sketchbook and pen, and it is also her to whom I directed my questions when I was approached by collectors – the one in South Africa, the other in Los Angeles on the basis of my articles on my website; thus we received information of sketches and paintings which were not in the Cyprus collection. Internet the great communicator.

Dr. Sibel Siber said at the opening ….it is to honour William Dreghorn who has done so much for this country; she also wrote the introduction in the English and Turkish catalogue of his work which is a common effort of governmental and private initiatives.

Many buildings, images of streets and archaeological details would no longer be available to us if it was not for William Dreghorn. Also Erbil Arkin of the Arkin Group shared some private memories with us. Among the distinguished guests was also his 

doctor who sat by his side at the very end; even then he was asking for paper and pen to draw some things from memory, he told me.

To see some of the articles I have written about the work of William Dreghorn please click on the links below:

Castle Sketch Book by William Dreghorn – click here

A painting of St Hilarion by William Dreghorn – click here

William Dreghorn in Bellapais – click here

The exhibition  itself was beautifully prepared by Oya Silbery, the director of the gallery; she had welcomed the guests on the lower terrace of ‘The House’.  It was one of those melting tropical nights under a Mediterranean sky when you don’t want to go home and as I was moving from one group to another I heard all the stories people brought up from times when places like Girne and Famagusta were deserted and a man sitting for hours and sketching and painting away – Bill Dreghorn loved the Old Harbour  in Girne – would catch everyone’s eye.

There is a permanent exhibition in the castle – and what would Bill Dreghorn say if he could see Girne today – he would turn in his grave.  Yes, things have changed, especially these last ten years. We have somehow lost the patience to observe the details, and this is a good occasion to call that into our minds, with the beautifully drawn pictures of so many parts of our island, an old alley in the Old City, a fountain, a door or the stone works on a building, they are drawn not only for the love of detail but with his heart; you immediately feel at home when looking at them closely and you want to go and find them in reality.