# data[].attributes.body
One of my best mushroom images I took on the hill

# data[].attributes.body
The sun setting on robinswood hill

# data[].attributes.body
This is my grandson and our dog playing freely on robinswood hill

# data[].attributes.body
Omg the good old days when all us kids in Beaufort road used to take ball up hill ..picnics and stay till dark ..rember piddgy back rolling down hill tad pole fishing and brother jumping in stream great days in the 70s and 80s

# data[].attributes.headline
I remember being taken up the hill from Bathurst Road by my Father and Grandfather just before l was three.And being disappointed when my request asking them to put a calf in their pocket for me to take home. Told l would have a surprise when l got home...A baby Brother had been born!

# data[].attributes.subject
I remember being taken up the hill from Bathurst Road by my Father and Grandfather just before l was three.And being disappointed when my request asking them to put a calf in their pocket for me to take home. Told l would have a surprise when l got home...A baby Brother had been born!

# data[].attributes.body
As a family we went up frequently, later with friends and local brownies and
Guides. Blackberried, played Hide and Seek, Cowboys and Indians.
Having no car it was my main introduction to the countryside and wildlife, from Badgers, to fossils in the quarry with great views mud to slip on etc.
It's lovely to see it is still enjoyed by so many people.

# data[].attributes.body
These two use to love a walk up Robinswood Hill but always would take up most of the room on the benches when it came to a rest. Enjoying the views no doubt 🐶

# data[].attributes.body
Robinswood hill - what does it mean to me - it means no school, it means that it’s the summer holidays, the winter holidays and spring holidays.

It also meant I was at my Gran and Gramps who lived at Foxtail close, at the bottom of the hill

I had numerous friends up there and we go exploring all over the hill we go for hours and hours and come back at dusk.

During September whenever I was at my Gran and grandads it meant that we would go blackberry picking and the bags that we collected full of berries was unbelievable, plus also the amount we ate which was a lot.

It also brings back lovely memories of my dog Tracy, she was born on the same day that I was, we were inseparable. We would go up that hill and we march all over the place, we would go through the streams and splash around and have so much fun.

I remember this one time me, my Gran, my grandad and my auntie Pam all went up Robinswood Hill and it was to go and watch the red arrows but they cancelled their flight but we got to the top of the hill, looked at the view over Gloucester and you could see everything for miles around to May Hill to the river severn, everywhere it was always a sight to behold.

To be honest I don’t think a day went by during my school holidays where we did not go up Robinswood hill it was always where we would walk the dogs and it was always where we go for a picnic and in all types of weather.

Robinswood hill will always have a fond place in my heart where I laughed, played and enjoyed times with my family and friends

# data[].attributes.headline
Melissa, Liba, and Ruth from the Community Growing Project at Northbound Gloucester Services

# data[].attributes.subject
Melissa, Liba, and Ruth from the Community Growing Project at Northbound Gloucester Services

# data[].attributes.body
My childhood in 60s was spent up robinswood Hill picking bluebells and sliding down the quarry! Jam sandwiches and bottles of water for lunch shared with most the kids from our road in matson! Being chased by farmer for pinching apples in the orchard! Happy memories! Sue creese

# data[].attributes.body
Living in Nympsfield Road, Tuffley meant that Randwick Road Park was the base from which most of my childhood adventures would start.

I can’t remember exactly when I first ventured up Robinswood Hill ‘alone’, but I’m guessing I would have been under 10.

It felt like a long walk then. Along the narrow path under the railway bridge (or more likely walking on the raised embankment and trying to scale across the bridge stonework) and on up Tuffley Lane. I think I recall there being a couple of shops on the left separated by a few houses and of course the Prefabs on the right.

Crossing over First Avenue (?) we would be on our best behaviour (or not) as we passed the Police Station before crossing Stroud Road in front of the Fox and Elm pub. I seem to remember we cut through somewhere before Woods Orchard Road but after all these years I’m not sure where. Anyway, we would get onto the hill at the base of the quarry passing a Dutch barn just before coming to the remains of the brickworks.

The funny thing is, I can remember that just to the right of the path near the Dutch barn was a small pile of broken Bakelite telephones which I was fascinated with. Perhaps that’s why I have ended up with a large collection of them!

The brickworks were an adventure in themselves. The remains of the kilns were still there. I can’t remember how many - perhaps 5 or 6. They were incredible. It was like someone had invented an assault course for us kids. Imagine a number of side by side railway tunnels. When they were abandoned they had made an attempt to block off the entrances with piles of bricks but there were manholes in the roof which meant that you could jump down onto the debris inside, getting out though was another matter. I recall that we were convinced we’d find dead bodies in them for some reason. Imagination fuelled my youth!

Exploring those kilns wasn’t easy. They were pitch black inside and back in the day we didn’t really have torches. Batteries cost a small fortune then and lasted five minutes, so most of our exploration in those kilns was done in Braille!

The next challenge would be climbing the quarry. There were ‘easy’ paths to the left or right but the difficult way was up the middle where there was an overhang. We would fall and graze elbows, knees and bruise heads as a matter of routine. The quarry had a fair number of fossils including some that looked like pencil ends. For years I believed my cousin who told me they were Roman bullets! Once up to the first level, you would discover a flat area covered in boulders which was great for hide and seek and for lobbing stones down the scree of the main quarry.

Another climb took you to the very top of the quarry from where you could choose one of the various paths up to the ‘Camels Hump’ from where the view was sublime. Gloucester nestled to the north with the Cathedral proudly marking the city centre.

Over the years of my youth I enjoyed so many adventures on that hill and later, a little bit of romance too!

There were expeditions to the Matson side via Bluebell Woods (below which the Ski slope was eventually built) and around in the other direction I remember newting in the ponds on the bottom slopes backing onto the end of Matson.

On that side you could (if you could find it) crawl through the narrow tunnel into the Badger’s Hole (a dug our sett). There was a small ‘cave’ at the bottom of the tunnel which would fit 3 or 4 lads. We were all fascinated with flame and this was where I discovered lighting a camp fire in an enclosed subterranean space was a really bad idea...

So, I was no stranger to mischief. This was further evidenced by the fact that with a group of friends, I even managed to set fire to some woodland to the right of the quarry whilst ‘smoking’ bits of a bush which had a marshmallow like centre. They were disgusting!!

Before we knew it the dry leaves were alight and failing to extinguish the creeping flames, we did the inevitable runner. Smoke began to billow from that part of the hill and as we headed back down towards home we started to hear the fire engine sirens! When I got home, much to my mum’s astonishment, I rushed straight up to have a bath. Unknown to her I reeked of smoke, and thought that sticking my clothes in a plastic bag and bathing would kill the smell. I was right and got away with it - even getting a pat on the back for being home on time and having pre-school ablutions!  I’ve never forgotten the date because it was the night before I started at Sir Thomas Rich’s school - so that would have been in early September 1970.

My final reminisce for now is of attending that first assembly and standing at the front of the school hall with my new school mates (I was the only one from Grange Junior school - all my male classmates but one had gone to the Crypt School). With my knees shaking I fully expected the headmaster to denounce me as an arsonist before handing me over to the constabulary. Needless to say my fears were unfounded and my record remained unblemished!

Writing this has brought so many memories flooding back. I hope it triggers a few for you too.

# data[].attributes.headline
Seeing Daphne Neville's otters at the conservation centre - circa 1997?

# data[].attributes.subject
Seeing Daphne Neville's otters at the conservation centre - circa 1997?

# data[].attributes.body
My first ever trip to Robinswood Hill! I remember the otters running around the centre and having mini milks afterwards :)

# data[].attributes.body
I'm so grateful to have Robinswood Hill pm my door step. It feels like another world when you are up the top and so beautiful on a sunny day.  I hope to take a BBQ up to the top this summer. In Autumn last year we took my kids and niece and nephew and had hot dogs from a thermos. They loved it

# data[].attributes.headline
Covid Days - Pat Norris
Have lived at the foot of this hill since the 1980's. Probably took the place for granted. But during the pandemic this place has been a godsend. Different environments around this place. Golf Course, Meadow grazed by Gloucester Cattle,Quarry Site and of course the Hill Top itself. Thank you Robinswood Hill x

# data[].attributes.subject
Covid Days - Pat Norris
Have lived at the foot of this hill since the 1980's. Probably took the place for granted. But during the pandemic this place has been a godsend. Different environments around this place. Golf Course, Meadow grazed by Gloucester Cattle,Quarry Site and of course the Hill Top itself. Thank you Robinswood Hill x

# data[].attributes.body
Loved getting our sarnies and bottle of squash into the back pack, no! So. Walking there was the order of the day. 2 parents, 5 kids and sometimes a dog.
The thrill of walking up to the farm that being the first stop, then to the ponds. On up further and the kids who are all now grown with there own families we would reach the rope swings. They loved it! Screaming with enjoyment.
Then. Of again towards the quarry omg tjat was terrifying 😂with my norn and bred husband enlighting us with his boyhood tales of swinging of it WHAT.
We then proceed to the top and the breathtaking view. Trying to see the areas we new. And then then it was back down kids screaming as they ran, and me yelling STOP!!!. THANK YOU for yrs of enjoyment, now our children ans doing it ans loving every minute.

# data[].attributes.body
Credit: Tracey Ryan

# data[].attributes.headline
"I remember walking up to the top  of the hill when I was younger and fitter with my dad, and my dad would hang a large white sheet out of a bedroom window before we left, so we could easily see our house from the top of the hill! It was only a mile or two away, but being only seven or eight, from the top, it always seemed miles and miles away!”

# data[].attributes.subject
"I remember walking up to the top  of the hill when I was younger and fitter with my dad, and my dad would hang a large white sheet out of a bedroom window before we left, so we could easily see our house from the top of the hill! It was only a mile or two away, but being only seven or eight, from the top, it always seemed miles and miles away!”

# data[].attributes.body
Andrew Gravells, former Mayor and Sheriff of Gloucester