I love the idea of a village where, when they were naming the roads they could only think of the Post Office... Post Office Lane in Cleeve Hill must be a happening place to be
Regarding finding the ring, I suspect you just need to go to the trig point, which will probably be at the crossing of the paths in the aerial photo, and then walk down hill a bit in the right direction. The trouble is that any humps and bumps in the landscape could be very slight so wriggling along on tummies may be called for.... perhaps you could sell tickets and transmit the next expedition via streaming web cam?
The alternative to crawling around could be to make a shamble - you will know when you get to the right spot cos a little blue chap will suddenly appear in the middle and shout Crivens! before head-butting your ankle and running off leaving a smell of sheep........ liniment!
Ron.@Ron, is Cleeve Hill chalk?
On Kate and Jane, there was a recent report of a driver getting charged by police for driving without due care and attention after he'd followed his sat nav so blindly he'd almost gone over a cliff and had to be rescued.
I wonder what Kate or Jane might have said at the time:
"Turn around when possible."
A rather contrite: "Sorry."
"Arrrrghhhhhhh!"
"Turn around when possible."
A rather contrite: "Sorry."
Ron once found a flint arrowhead didn't he? Or something like it? Mindful of that I'm always looking out for one in my walks! But have never been lucky so far!
I think Cleeve Hill is chalk, as it goes.... am curious to know how Eccles knew that from Ron's post.It's all down to Terry Pratchett. The late Granny Aching was a shepherdess who used sheep liniment for all sorts of sheep ailments, and because is suspected that it is a tincture as well as a liniment, she was rather partial to a drop of it herself. She was thought of as a sort of witch, although the people of the meadows where she lived didn't really approve of witches as such. Granny had a granddaughter called Tiffany, who at the age of nine discovered that she was a witch. The people still didn't approve of witches, but Tiffany was THEIR witch, and was pretty good at it, so that made it alright too. According to folklore around the Ramtop Mountains, witches don't do well on chalk because it is porous and witches get their power from the land. But Tiffany, who lives on such ground, gets her power from the chalk because it was once alive and she can tap this former life force. A little like Granny Aching was thought to be able to. The little blue men that Ron talks about are the Nac Mac Feegle. They believe that this reality is heaven because it is full of the things that they like, i.e. fighting, stealing, and sheep liniment. When they die, they will go back to a normal existence. They are rather like extremely belligerent smurfs, but they also regard Tiffany as 'theirs' and help her in their chaotic way to overcome nasty things that Mr Pratchett sees fit to write to put in her way. They speak in a kind of Pidgin Scottish with "Ach Crivens!" their favourite battle cry, or expletive, whichever seems most appropriate. So, when Ron talks of little blue men, he refers to stories about the people who populate chalk meadows where strange barrows and old workings exist. Whether he actually knew that Cleeve Hill was chalk, or guessed that it was, you'll have to ask him. @eccs - thank you for explaining to the uninitiated about the Nac McFegle... as for Cleeve hill being chalk.... I think it might be (shape and vegetation) however I will have to find my geology maps and have a look.
