A perfect Autumn day in the Cotswolds
A Sunday Walk on Cleeve Hill in the Cotswolds
Cotswolds
My mum and I in days gone by
My mum and I in days gone by. It is 6 years since my mum died, it has gone by so quickly in some ways, yet so slowly in others. I reckon I think about her more now than ever before. Today I visited her grave and put her favourite pink flowers there. It is in a perfect setting near the hills above Cheltenham, ina lawned garden. The trees are all golden, orange and red now that Autumn is here and they look so beautiful. She would have enjoyed that.
As We Look Back ~ unknown
As we look back over time
We find ourselves wondering …..
Did we remember to thank you enough
For all you have done for us?
For all the times you were by our sides
To help and support us …..
To celebrate our successes
To understand our problems
And accept our defeats?
Or for teaching us by your example,
The value of hard work, good judgement,
Courage and integrity?
We wonder if we ever thanked you
For the sacrifices you made.
To let us have the very best?
And for the simple things
Like laughter, smiles and times we shared?
If we have forgotten to show our
Gratitude enough for all the things you did,
We’re thanking you now.
And we are hoping you knew all along,
How much you meant to us.
Meadow Haiku
Through Cox’s Meadow
past ancient mills, farms and fairs,
The River Chelt flowed.
Many years ago, when my children were young, I decided to follow the River Chelt from its source near Dowdeswell to its mouth at the River Severn near Wainlodes. I took my long suffering children with me on what I considered to be a great adventure ~ and very educational! They had differing opinions, but as it was a good summer and they were too young to argue, they came along anyway.
The history of places has always fascinated me; how things came to be the way they are; and how they were before. The changes just in my lifetime are breathtaking, but the further back you go the more interesting it gets. Features like buildings, placenames and rivers are great starting points for research I find.
Now the River Chelt is only small but it has always been very unpredictable. There are so many springs up in the Cotswolds that after a heavy rainfall there can be flash flooding without any warning. The river used to run from the high ground down through the meadow named after the farmer, Mr Cox, then straight down the High Street in Cheltenham. People had to use stepping stones to cross. That all changed when the mill owner, a Mr Barrett, diverted the river in order to power his corn mill in the centre of town. The course of the river has been tweaked several times over the years and various culverts have been put in, but it still floods occasionally. The worst floods I can remember were in 2007. On July 20th the heavens opened and the rivers burst their banks all over Gloucestershire. The power station was affected and the water supply was cut off. For weeks we had bottled water delivered to central depots where residents went to collect it. Homes, pubs, abbeys, churches and schools were flooded; and traffic on some roads was restricted to boats!
Some years before that the local council in their wisdom did major work on Cox’s meadow. The meadow had been a wonderful community facility and a natural floodplain for centuries. Annual fairs were held there and community games, charity events and circuses. But it was transformed into a barren wasteland and designated a “balancing pond” or “overflow reservoir”. There is nothing in it now apart from a path which the dog walkers enjoy, and a scultpture over the drain cover. And, sadly when the floods came, it was worse than useless. Whereas previously the river overflowed freely into the meadow, now it was channelled along a route behind houses resulting in those houses being flooded!
Goodness, these Haiku prompts really do stir up the memories ~ all that from the word ‘meadow’!
English: A frosty morning in Cox’s Meadow Part of the Cheltenham flood defence system, Cox’s meadow was remodelled in 2005/2006 to store River Chelt flood water. This photograph was taken at the start of several days when the temperature rarely rose above freezing. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Lilley Brook near Cox’s Meadow The Lilley Brook meanders through trees at the edge of Cox’s Meadow just before it joins the River Chelt. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
September Haiku
Summer surrenders
Fruits fall from burdened branches
September sweeps in.
Inspired by Haiky Heights September Challenge at
http://haiku-heights.blogspot.com/
Sunflower season
Golden Sunflowers
Yearning for enlightenment
Turn to face the sky
The sunflowers have been washed out this year in some parts of the Cotswolds due to the dreadful wet summer. At Snowshill most of the young plants died as their roots rotted in the rain=soaked earth. But there are still some sunflowers around and I delight in them. The ones in my garden have just come into bloom and they are magnificent.
In Cheltenham ladies College there is a beautiful stained glass window depicting sunflowers ~ in Victorian times they were considered a symbol of faith in God as the sunflowers appear to be turning their heads to face Him.
I painted sunflowers on my summerhouse doors as for me they signify the arrival of Autumn, my favourite season.
The Bridge
Simple and stylish
Steel bridge designed by children
Stands over the lake
Crocodile Water Spout
I mentioned the crocodile water spout in my last blog but forgot to attach my photos so they are below. I love the fact that a respected cotswold stone builder from the nearby village of Hazleton built this feature in the 19th Century. Presumably some local landowner paid for it. The spring water has been gushing out of the crocodile’s mouth ever since. Some days, like yesterday, after lots of heavy rain, it is a truly spectacular sight.
Yesterday, as I took photos of the crocodile from every angle, a young boy was walking with his father to St Oswald’s Church, which is set on the hill right above the crocodile. He is clearly used to jumping the stream to save walking all the way along the road. I don’t know whether it was his desire to show off or his amazement at seeing a ‘mature’ lady photographing water coming out of a spring, but whatever distracted him he landed right in the fast flowing water. I had to smile as he walked up the hill to church with soaking wet shoes and very soggy trouser bottoms!
I wish I could capture the sound of the pure rushing water for you but my photos will have to do. I marvel at the fact that nature produces a constant supply of fresh water for us here. Would that other parts of the world were so lucky.
Summer Sunday
Sweet the skylark’s song,
Over fields of lavender,
Where tireless swifts soar.
The sun shone today for the first time in ages so I went off up the hills above Broadway to Snowshill and the Cotswold Lavender Farm. The wonderful aroma of lavender fills the air here, it is a heavenly place. I could hear a skylark singing his heart out although I could not see him. But the sky was filled with the swifts; ceaselessly hungry they swoop and soar for flies. They had to share the sky with a bi-plane which was looping the loop and doing wonderful aerobatic tricks, leaving smoke trails between the clouds.
On the way home I was brought to a halt so many times in farm gateways by the beauty of the Cotswolds. I was mesmerised by a sloping field full of hares! I have rarely seen hares in the wild but today there were whole groups of them feeding happily in full view and occasionally jumping for joy. It was a privilege to watch them and take photos.
I meandered through Compton Abdale so that I could see the ‘crocodile’. This is a very old stone carved to look like a crocodile which covers a natural spring so the water gushes out of its mouth. It looked strange today dressed for the jubilee with a flower crown on its head! There is a tradition of well dressing in England which apparently stretches to springs too!
I could not resist taking a photo of a typical Cotswold stone house complete with roses by the door and wisteria round the gate.
I will post my photos below for you to enjoy.
Cotswolds Observed
From lavender fields
startled pheasant emerges,
Flushed out by the dogs.
Field of Rapeseed
For those of you who enjoyed the photos of the poppy fields in the Cotswolds I thought I would post a photo I took last month of a Rapeseed field. There is something new every month in the Cotswolds. Before the rapeseed there was blossom everywhere from the fruit trees and before that there were the magnolias, snowdrops and daffodils. Maybe I should do a month by month pictorial journal of Cotswold Flora with a side order of lovely buildings and scenery! So let’s start with January when we get Hellebores quickly followed by snowdrops, crocuses and aconites. I took this photo of wild snowdrops in the woods ………
In February I spotted daffodils at Lindors Country House which is a retreat centre and hotel in the Forest of Dean and at Prinknash Abbey which is my favourite place in the whole world …….
In March the weather was good and the Magnolias were out early…….
In April the fruit trees were covered in blossom. The apple blossom is in my garden where I have 2 apple trees and 2 pear trees, 1 quince tree and a cherry tree so I get a good variey of blossom! ………
In May the rapeseed fields brightened up the fields high up in the Cotswolds………..
Of course the most beautiful time in the Cotswolds is lambing time. Here are some very happy sheep at hailes Abbey …..
Poppy time in the Cotswolds
Cotswold Countryside,
Golden harvest, honeyed stone
Punctured by poppies
It is hard to describe the beauty of the Cotswolds in June or the joy I feel when I suddenly come across stray poppies in the hedgerow, clusters by the roadside or profusions swamping a field of corn. But a picture paints a thousand words so enjoy my photos!
Blossoming Haiku
Pebble path leads me
Blue blossom bursts into bud
Garden glows anew
Blue bush is blossoming
Journaling my Journey number 2
Journaling my Journey
Some years ago when I was feeling very low, my daughter sent me a copy of The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. I started writing ‘morning pages’ as Julia suggested. It was just 3 pages of stream of consciousness words, whatever came into my head. Sometimes, if words just would not come, I drew sketches.
I used to get up very early in the morning anyway as I was finding it difficult to sleep. So before I listened to the radio, read the paper, did Sudoku, filled in a crossword, switched on my computer, or had any distraction or outside input I would write my morning pages. I did this religiously (interesting word) every day for the weeks and months that followed. I did not read the pages back and I did not show them to anyone. In fact if I was really down I would wrap the pages round with Sellotape and hide them in a cupboard, figuratively locking away the pain that was revealing itself on the pages.
The Artist’s Way is of course a 12 week programme for creative discovery and/or recovery. However, apart from the urge to draw little sketches alongside my pages I did not discover any hidden artistic talent during those 12 weeks! Nevertheless, I continued writing my morning pages and taking myself off on ‘artist’s dates’ for another couple of years, and my depression lifted.
In Autumn 2011 I saw an advert for a course at the Isbourne Foundation on “The Artists’s Way”. Knowing how much I had enjoyed following the book, I was intrigued and inspired to sign up, which I did. There I met tutor Dr Lesley O’Neill and joined a small group of women whom I immediately felt connected to. So I read the book again and inspired and encouraged by Lesley and the group, I discovered to my joy that I did have some creative talents. Poetry popped up, Haiku hurtled out. I dabbled in drawing, played with Plasticene, discovered Zentangles, started writing stories, and carried my camera everywhere I went. Now, I wrap my pages in pretty ribbon, not Sellotape, and I save them in a beautiful turquoise box with doves all over it. I now live the Artist’s Way. I am part of a small local community of creative and inspiring women and my life is transformed. With them I am free to be myself and express myself, with no pretensions, no explanations and no alibis required. There are never enough hours in the day for all I want to do. I have several writing projects on the go including newsletters, travelogues, competition entries, children’s stories, my blog, and of course my morning pages. But now I realise that they too are transformed into Journal entries. I realised this after seeing a recommendation for the book “Life’s Companion, Journal Writing as Spiritual Practice” by Christina Baldwin on the New Hampshire Writer’s Group blog www.nhwn.wordpress.com that I follow . I bought the book and look forward to continuing my journey of discovery ~ discovering myself!
Rapeseed field ripening in the Cotswolds
Related articles
- Favorite Writing Books (nhwn.wordpress.com)
- On becoming a writer (paulmdonovan.wordpress.com)
- Morning Pages Challenge (candidconcourse.wordpress.com)
- Have you ever kept a diary? (richlingo.com)
Haiku
As it is National Poetry Month I thought I would write a Haiku. Traditionally the Haiku has 17 syllables divided into 3 parts, the first with 5 syllables, the second with 7 syllables and the last with 5 syllables. The Japanese Haiku is written in one long line whereas the English Haiku is written in 3 lines. Generally the Haiku is written about nature or the seasons and the words paint the picture in the reader’s mind. The Haiku should appeal to the senses and encourage the reader to meditate on the topic. Mine captures the moment the fishing ends ………..
Sun sets, fishing stops
Herons hover overhead
Fish glide into reeds
Gone Fishing
Under a fishing umbrella by the side of a lake in the pouring rain with husband and grandchildren, heaven happens. There is nothing quite so exciting as being at the mercy of the elements but safe! It appeals to our most basic human need for shelter and protection. All our needs are met. We are together, warm and dry and we have a picnic. We are relaxed and at peace. There is nothing we must do but enjoy ourselves. It is a precious gift ~ time to be. Grandchildren learn how to fish. They watch the fluorescent tip of the float marking the place where the line enters the water. The bait of sweetcorn gently drifts in the depths as we throw more corn in to attract the fish. And it does. The float waggles then dips down ~ a bite! Ben gets the landing net ready and Rosie slides the unhooking mat into place. The mat is clean and padded to protect the fish from injury or infection. Gerry reels it in and Ben slips the net into the water and under the fish, gently lifting it clear of the water. It’s heavy, maybe 8lbs. A beautiful mirror carp. It has a golden belly and silver scales along each side of the backbone. The hook slips easily out of its mouth with the help of tiny forceps. The children take a photograph of this beautiful creature then it is placed gently back in the net and returned to the lake. We don’t throw the fish back like the match fishermen. We let it rest in the net for a few minutes then tilt the net so it can swim out safely, unharmed.
The rain stops, ducks settle on the bank. The sun comes out to end the day on a glorious note. The match fishermen leave, but we stay to watch the sun go down. The sky glows golden and the lake glitters. Flies abound and the fish leap up to catch them. Bats swirl around silently. Then huge wings darken the sky as three herons appear over the tree tops. They dominate the lake as they swoop down and help themselves to a fish supper.
It is an amazing sight and all we can do is watch in awe, then write Haiku about it!
Sun sets, fishing stops
Herons hover overhead
Fish glide into reeds
Grandad teaching Ben to fish, Rosie practising with a stick!
He’s got it!
Heron waiting for a fish supper
A Globe of Gold
The weather is so beautiful and this Spring is so exquisite that I just have to quote Thomas Traherne the 17th century Poet & Mystic
“Heaven! is not that an Endless Sphere
Where all thy Treasures and thy Joys appear?
If that be Heaven it is Evrywhere
…
Heaven surely is a State and not a Place
To be in Heaven’s to be full of Grace
Heaven is wherever we see God’s face.”
Taking a walk by a lake today all I could hear was the birds. I felt the warm sun on my face and the soft breeze blowing through the trees was so welcome. A confused woodpecker was pecking at a flagpole on top of the old manor house and the ducks were swimming purposefully to distract me from their nests. Just metres away in one direction was the new ASDA superstore and in the other was the litter strewn A40. But for 10 minutes I was in a sacred space and I could see God’s face.
Gardens of Lindor House
Yew No. 40 ~ Painswick Churchyard
Yew No. 40
Life has formed you, twisted you,
Smoothed you, soothed you
Jagged, dark, and fragile you stand.
Where is your soul?
In the branches you gave life to,
The gnarled core split open to the world,
Or the smooth, worn bark that covers your pain.
You have lived, three hundred years and more
You have grown and changed.
You are beautiful still.
Leap Day 2012
What did you do on Leap Day?
I joined my first “Health Walk” and had a great time.
The walk started at 2pm in the Main Reception area of Park Campus, University of Gloucester.
I drove there and paid for parking (£1 a day!) in the UoG carpark.
Once there it was easy to spot the walk leaders as they were wearing bright yellow tabards.
There was a good crowd of walkers gathered, some old hands and some new like me. After a quick chat and a pause to fill in essential forms to comply with Health and Safety rules we were off! The campus grounds themselves were absolutely beautiful in the spring sunshine. There were snowdrops and primroses out in abundance; squirrels chasing up spectacular trees, and ducks preening by the lake. I was kicking myself for not bringing my camera. But there was no time to stop as the advanced walkers were already out of sight! The walkers drifted naturally into four groups according to speed, but the groups were very fluid. People chatted and mixed with absolute ease. I was fortunate in finding three members of our local WI on the walk who I already knew, but I really would have felt very comfortable on my own as everyone was so welcoming.
The walkers varied in ages. I guessed that the oldest was about 80 but later I discovered she was 91!
The walk was a revelation to me. I have lived in Cheltenham since the 60s and I am ashamed to say I have never seen some of the lanes we walked along. The leaders avoided the main roads and took us across Shurdington Road passing the beautiful home of Zara Tindall. In no time at all we were alongside market gardens and little farmsteads. I saw sheep with spotless lambs, a rare breed pig, a flock of geese, and dozens of happy hens as free range as they get. The only sounds I could hear were birds singing and lambs bleating.
The walk was 3.5 miles and took about 50 minutes before we all arrived back at UoG. There we all gathered in the refectory for a very welcome cup of tea. It was a good opportunity to get to know the other walkers better and I soon felt as if I had known them for years.
There are organised “Health Walks” every weekday, all different and all completely free to join. I will definitely be turning up for some of these. I can’t imagine a more enjoyable way to get healthy. I will also meet lovely people and see hidden gems in my own town that I have never seen before.
Leaflets with details of all the walks are available online at www.whi.org.uk
I went back on St David’s Day and took my camera! Here are some of the pics…enjoy!
Basking in sunshine on 29th 2012
Lake at the Park
The essence of Spring
Sowdrops, sign of Spring
The lake at University of Gloucestershire, Park Campus
Minutes away from the main Shurdington Road, an alternative lifestyle
Heavenhappens 