Frampton Mansell Level Crossing

I discovered this place, not from a map but by chance. I was near the Thames-Severn canal tunnel at Daneway when I spotted this curious sign.

Why had the level crossing which I didn't even know was there, been closed? The sad answer was that there had been several fatal accidents. In fact the sign was a good summary of the legal situation from 1971 onwards. However, there was probably no signage until after a fatality in 2014. There was even a further accident in 2017 that killed a farmer who was using it legally.

So I decided to take a (careful) look at the crossing

The picture above is from the North side and clearly shows that this is a "green lane" rather than a proper road. See below for views from the South

See here for a report into the 2014 accident and for another "disappearing road, see here

Sarah Siddon's house at Lydbrook

This house in Lydbrook, Forest of Dean is reputed to be the childhood home of the 18th century actress Sarah Siddons

Hasfield - the disappearing road

This road in Hasfield, Gloucestershire is almost not there at all. It's shown on many maps as being an ordinary (if narrow) country lane. As you can see, "Unsuitable for motors" is a bit of an understatement although you might get a motorbike along it.

However, the picture below by Ian S in 2016 shows a much wider carriageway which you could get a smaller car down.

The reasons for this decay probably include:

• The road isn't a route between two large population centres
• Apart from a few farm buildings at the far end, no one "needs" to drive along it to access a building or gateway

It does have nice views to Corse Grove though so it's well worth the walk

Eldersfield - hills, ditches and bridges

Eldersfield is a sparsely populated parish in south-west Worcestershire. It's largely flat but does have some distinctive low hills

An unnamed 33m hill in Eldersfield

The most notable small hill is Gadbury Bank or Camp which is an ancient hill fort  - unfortunately, there's no public access.

On the opposite side of Coles Lane is an unnamed hill with quite a few footpaths. The landowner has erected a bench at the summit - although there's no public right of way to it.

View from a footpath over the church and mid left is "Berth Hill"

There's another interesting hill on the North side of Hoggs Pitch. In theory, it makes a nice circular hill-top walk but at the time of writing, the footpath is blocked at the south-east corner.

Wide path leading around the hilltop

These hills are very much the exception - most of the land is low-lying and flat and part of the village is called Eldersfield Marsh - a reference the state of much of the land before being drained in the 19th Century. That's why there are number of deep ditches in the village with some nice small bridges

Another interesting bridge is over an arm of a lake near Marsh Court. The lake isn't shown on older OS maps so it (and the bridge) is probably fairly modern in origin.

This phone box has been re-purposed

The Longdon & Eldersfield Marsh Conservation Trust is a good source of history and wildlife information

 

More pictures

Marsh Brook

View towards the Malverns

Willows at Eldersfield Marsh

Nottingham Hill

It's near Cheltenham - nowhere near Nottingham and famous for a very large hill fort

View NW to Bredon Hill

I liked the pattern of the tracks

View NE to Alderton Hill

In the background is “Showlands”, a “Winter Quarters” for travelling show people. After a fight lasting around 15 years, they finally got planning permission. Foreground is Gotherington

Autumn colour starting in Gotherington

Elmstone Harwicke

Photos taken near Elmstone Hardwicke, Glos, UK where a farm road crosses the M5

Curious signs near the summit

Towards Cleeve Hill

Malverns

Dowdeswell

I'm not sure if Dowdeswell Nature Reserve still exists. It's on the maps. and Geograph has a photo of a sign but the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust doesn't mention it and when I got to the site of the photo, I found the sign had been removed with a saw.

The reservoir itself was still there. Its life has been undistinguished. Originally part of the waterworks for Cheltenham, it became redundant when the Mythe Water Treatment Works took over. The next job was to protect Cheltenham from flooding. It doesn't fulfil that mission particularly well because substantial tributaries off the Chelt join below the dam.

The dry side of the dam

The concrete overflow spillway is visited by local artists following a prolonged spell of dry weather

Further down the spillway. The yellow sign promises deep water

A curious tree by the old filter beds