What draws the crowds to the Lake District? If you’ve ever been there you’ll know. But leave the car and the tourists and start climbing into the fells. You’ll soon find yourself alone walking where Wordsworth walked and sharing his thoughts so beautifully expressed in his poetry.
Like Alice’s Wonderland bottle labelled ‘Drink me’, this inviting style seems to say ‘Step over me and explore’. Beyond, off the beaten track, adventure beckons.
‘And that will be England gone, the shadows, the meadows, the lanes….. all that remains for us will be concrete and tyres‘
On holiday recently, passing mile upon mile of road-side verges sprayed with weedkiller, I couldn’t help thinking of these ringing words from Philip Larkin’s disturbing poem ’Going,Going’. Even back in 1972 he was warning of the way we are trashing our environment. Those sprayed verges are understandable as part of essential high-way maintenance yet, in a way, deeply disturbing. With the road-sides looking like a ‘scorched earth’ policy it raises the question ‘Where have all the wild flowers gone?‘
Continue reading “Our Lost Wildflower Meadows”
Lullingstone Roman Villa reveals the earliest known evidence of the Christian Faith in Britain. As early as 360AD the Christian Faith was beginning to spread in this country. This villa is one of the best preserved in Britain.
Continue reading “Forgotten Roots”
A Listening Heart 