Clee Hills
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Clee Hills are a range of hills in Shropshire, England, consisting of Brown Clee Hill (540m), the highest peak in Shropshire, and Titterstone Clee Hill (533m). They are both in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
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[edit] Geography
The hills stretch over 15 miles and run north - south, and for about this distance the lowest point along the hills is just under 300 metres. Titterstone Clee Hill is around five miles south of Brown Clee Hill. There are many a sheep there.
The B4364 road from Ludlow to Bridgnorth runs between the two hills, offering good views of both. The hills have been said to form a "gateway" from the built up areas of the West Midlands to the hills and rural landscape of Wales and are at the heart of the Welsh Marches. Much Quarrying has taken place on the hills over the years, and there are large air traffic control domes and radar towers on the summits of both hills which can be seen for many miles around.
[edit] The View
Views from the west of the hills spread as far as Snowdonia, the Brecon Beacons, the Black Mountains, The Long Mynd, Stiperstones, Corndon Hill and Radnor Forest. To the south are the Malvern Hills and the Cotswolds, and to the east are the Clent Hills, Turner's Hill and the spread of the West Midlands. To the north is Cannock Chase, and on a very clear day the hills of the Peak District including The Roaches and Winter Hill.
It is possible to see the urban centres of Dudley and Wolverhampton, with Wolverhampton Wanderers FC's Molineux stadium visible. The hills mark a clear eastern boundary to the Shropshire Hills, and are just west of the Severn Valley between Bridgnorth and Bewdley. The hills stand out over the surrounding countryside and can be seen from well into Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and the Black Country. They can also be seen, on a clear day, from the M5 Motorway on the northbound approach to Bromsgrove. The hills were created by glacial activity in the last Ice Age.
In the summer the hills are green and are easy walking, attracting many visitors from the Black Country and other parts of the West Midlands, but care must be taken during winter, as though most of the time there is no snow and ice on the hills, when it comes it can be severe with strong gales and blizzards.
The village of Cleehill, lies on the slopes of Titterstone Clee Hill, about half way between Ludlow and Cleobury Mortimer.
The area is important for wildife, with Peregrine, Northern Wheatear, European Stonechat, Skylark, Eurasian Curlew and Barn Owl often seen as well as Adders, Rabbits and other birds.
[edit] The hills in popular culture
- There is a long-standing rumor in the local area of the hills - that is that they are the highest land eastwards until the Ural Mountains in Russia. This may well be true, as it has even been known for radios in the area to pick up signals via the air traffic control masts from Radio Moscow.
- The Clee hills are mentioned in A. E. Housman's poem "From Clee to heaven the beacon burns", which is a section of A Shropshire Lad.
- The Clee Hills have given rise to many place names in the area, including the villages of Cleehill, Cleeton St Mary, Cleestanton and Cleedownton.
- Some people believe that 'The Shire' in Tolkien's famed novel 'the Lord of the Rings' was based on this area, which he was known to visit frequently.
[edit] Terminology
The Clee Hills often cause confusion amongst people through their names, but basically:
- The Clee Hills are the range of hills in South Shropshire consisting of Brown Clee Hill and Titterstone Clee Hill.
- Cleehill is small village on the slopes of Titterstone Clee Hill
- Titterstone Clee Hill is the smallest of the Clee Hills to the south of the range, heavily quarried.
- Brown Clee Hill is the largest of the hills to the north of the range.
- Clee Hill - rather confusingly there is actually no such thing as Clee Hill, and it is seen as either:
- A misspelled version of Cleehill, referring to the village,
- A local name for Titterstone Clee Hill
- A local name for the quarrying areas on Titterstone Clee Hill
- A local name for the area.
