On a local website it’s described as being uneven, hilly, muddy in places, and that stout footwear is recommended and a basic level of fitness is required.
First time I went to The Heavens was when I was about 13. It was for a summer holiday club sports day event. We played British bulldog and rounders, although on the hillside, so there was a lot of rolling down hills and laughing and running around and having fun. It was a brilliant day when nobody got injured!
Later in life, when I moved back to Stroud with my then three year old, I was surprised and delighted to set up home in a completely different side of the town to where I was born and grew up, which is in Pagan Hill. The Heavens were now my extended back garden and playground and my son and I had lots of fun there together when he was small. The Heavens is a lush free open space. There’s a brook, lots of trees, rope swings. It’s a place which hosts lots of different events, from birthday parties, end of exam parties, end-of-school-forever parties, naming ceremonies, wedding betrothals and of course, dog walking. It’s a big hive of activity and if the wind is blowing in the right direction, I can hear it all from my house, from my own back garden.
I haven’t actually been to The Heavens for about 10 years. That’s because I’ve had mild Chronic Fatigue for about 30 years now, which as I have got older, it’s changed. My fatigue can last for days, sometimes weeks. It’s very random and I never know from day to day quite how it’s going to affect me and often I’m basically housebound for weeks at a time. As a result, it means that while sometimes I think I might make it to The Heavens, I’ve got no guarantee that I’m going to be able to get back, because I don’t know how much energy I’ll have. So I just don’t go there. It does take a lot of effort to make it there and wander around and really make the most of it (well, for me anyway).Additionally, for the last six of those years, I’ve started to suffer from crippling osteoarthritis in both of my feet and ankles, which has meant that an adventure to the heavens has actually become totally impossible for me.
But it is what it is. And in actual fact, on a clear day (and with the wind blowing in the right direction) I can hear the noise of the heavens. I can hear children shouting and calling, young people having noisy late night parties, and dogs chasing each other around and barking with excitement.
So, The heavens are still not so far away from me, I feel. I’m not going to lie, I do miss it. But I think I’d miss it more if I couldn’t hear it, and I really would be there if I could.
