154 PROCEEDINGS COTTESWOLD CLUB 1913 



the leeward side, and Battledown itself, though giving an 

 altitude up to nearly 500 feet, is of stiff clay and there are but 

 few houses upon it. The village of Prestbury has a fair alti- 

 tude, and is moderately mild, for the main part on sand, 

 near to the hills, and to the leeward of the town. At the hamlet 

 of Southam the air is fresher, clearer and more pleasant to 

 respire, though close under the hill. 



The suburb of Charlton Kings has an altitude rather greater 

 than Prestbury Village, and being much protected by hills, 

 is mild, comparatively windless, and affords many pleasant 

 house sites upon or near the main roads to Oxford and Ciren- 

 cester. 



To gain the higher altitudes and the much more bracing 

 climate pertaining to them it needs to ascend either Cleeve 

 Hill or Leckhampton Hill ; Cleeve Hill offers the greater 

 number of houses at an altitude of 500 feet and upwards. The 

 great common on the top of Cleeve Hill gives a wide space of 

 treeless turf for walking and riding exercise in the bracing clim- 

 ate of the Cotteswold Hills. The hill tops are rendered most 

 accessible from Cheltenham by means of a tram line to Cleeve 

 Hill, with passenger cars running frequently, and Leckhampton 

 Hill is also brought nearer by the tram line. 



The actual altitudes in feet above mean sea level in 

 Cheltenham and its near neighbourhood are given in grouped 

 districts on opposite page. 



