Cycle from a hill to the north (4)
I believe the answer is:
rota
'cycle' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'a hill to the north' is the wordplay.
'hill' becomes 'tor' (tor is a kind of hill).
'to the north' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'a'+'tor'='ator'
'ator' backwards is 'ROTA'.
'from' is the link.
(Other definitions for rota that I've seen before include "List assigning turns of duty" , "Roll call or roster" , "Cycle of duty" , "Ecclesiastical tribunal" , "List of duties taken in turn" .)