It was early morning on Dean Hill, reached after a lumpy journey along and up Dean Road, one of 55 Dean Roads in the country. The other 54 cannot possibly be as pothole-ridden as this one, but the view from the Dean Hill viewpoint made the journey worthwhile, in spite of the potential damage to the car’s suspension. Dean Road is the gateway from Newnham to the central Forest plateau, but its lumpiness and narrowness makes it a hazard for vehicles and drivers. I was once trapped in my vehicle with a large school bus on one side and a huge hedge on the other, both sides within a few inches and neither vehicle able to move. I was trapped. It was a most uncomfortable experience, until the rogue bus was able to find a way through.

But since then, the only danger faced is to the suspension to the vehicle as I manoeuvre my way around the cluster of deep unavoidable potholes that lie in wait. But the view from the peak of the road, just before the descent into Littledean, is breathtaking. It is aptly named ‘Pleasant Stile’. There is a little car parking spot, just beside the stile. From there, on this bright early morning, there are clusters of little white puffy clouds far below hiding parts of Newnham, but the sun, struggling to get through pale sunlight, illuminates the whole lower Severn vale, from Gloucester to the Cotswold hills, down to Arlingham, through a faint veil of gentle mist.

Dominant in this rural scene is the village of Arlingham, which is an isthmus of land from the other side of the Severn which protrudes into the Forest. At least I think it’s an isthmus. It might be a tombolo, but I gave up geography at school many years ago, before the tombolo/isthmus difference could be explained to me. Whatever, it is a dramatic place to view from a nearby lookout point, and you can see how this area was once the lowest point on the river that could be forded by Roman soldiers colonising the area. (The Vikings sensibly invaded by boat many centuries later).

There is a little piece of the Forest that you may see on the Dean Hill side of the river. There is an area with some ‘Hydes’ in place names, with Hyde Lane and Hyde Farm, where the Gloucester to Cardiff rail track was laid in the 1850s, part of greater Newnham, and further away the Malvern Hills.

I returned to Dean Hill later in the day. The thin blanket of mist has disappeared, and the view was brighter and less ethereal. Newnham and the Cotswold side of the Severn had sprung into life. Far off buildings could be seen, including the modern buildings at Javelin Park near Gloucester, which provide an elegant place for waste disposal and recycling, and further buildings along the Gloucester to Stroud road, faraway places I can’t quite identify.

If you would like perhaps the best view of the great lower Severn Vale, try Dean Hill. There are horse stables close by, so watch out for horses, buses, and particularly deep and evil potholes.