Fairy Hill

Wide Angle Wednesday: Countryside


With the countryside theme of today's challenge at the forefront of my mind, I took a quick detour on the way home to take this shot from the top of Fairy Hill looking down towards Compton Dando.  Thank heavens for the extra daylight.  The wide angle lens removes some of the steepness of the hill from the image.  I can remember as a lad of about 9 really  struggling to be able to ride my bicycle to the top of this one.  I can also remember the enormous exhilaration involved in cycling down it, at what seemed like immense speed :-)

I've never got to grips with where the title "Fairy Hill" originates, although certainly as a child it was a name to conjure with.  You cannot see it from the spot where this shot is taken, but down in the valley in front of you, the old Wansdyke crosses the River Chew to the east of the village of Compton Dando where there are several burial mounds.  It sounds like the raw materials for an Alan Garner story .