Dovers Hill

The final scenes of my novel Conditions Are Different After Dark are located at Drovers Hill in a natural amphitheatre away from the village. It is here that the annual Restoration Games take place (I will describe these in a future post).

Admission to the Games is restricted to local residents. The lanes are sealed off to prevent tourists and other visitors from entering. I identified the real-life location in the early days of writing the book: Dovers Hill, near Broadway and Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds. I discovered it online before a short break in Broadway. I intended to visit it on the way home; unfortunately, I missed the turning, and it was not until last July, when the book was completed, that I made a second journey to see it for the first time.

In the book, it is renamed Drovers Hill, an appropriate name given the history of sheep farming in the area. I think my photographs show how a well-attended local event could potentially be held in what appears to be a hidden location.  

Today, Dovers Hill is managed by the National Trust. From the top of the hill, there are views across the Vale of Evesham, as far as the Malvern Hills. The Restoration Games is based on Robert Dover’s Olimpick Games, founded in 1612. They were discontinued in 1862 and revived in the 1950s. The 2024 Games will be held on Friday, 31st May. https://www.olimpickgames.co.uk