Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Old photos - culling and wandering

Yesterday I spent a long time thinking about  friends who lived in a tiny terraced cottage in Pucklechurch.  Tiny and narrow it was, always terribly untidy, books flowed everywhere, the two dogs sprawled on the settee and a log fire burnt beautifully and it was such a warm and friendly place.

Sybil and Roy walking the dogs

They were friends from my second marriage, and the talk was often about archaeology, the subject my ex husband taught and practiced.  I remember another person joining the conversation one afternoon, she had the 'sight' and saw things such as colours that wove round a prehistoric barrow at Avebury.  All probably a nonsense.

The narrow winding garden

Sybil's narrow long garden was beautiful, it had a bench and table in the middle  and here we would sit in summer.  Strangely I remember one afternoon we dug a grave for her big hound who had just died and the bench must have covered the site.  I can't remember the dog's name, only that Sybil had sat at the top of the stairs with the dog leaning against her as he gently died.  They adored their dogs.



The terraced cottages were miner cottages from the past the defunct colliery somewhere in the undergrowth of a wood.  The farm road down to them, brought you into a space where cars (Some old and defunct) were parked and a row of sheds.  A path wound down the front of the houses and people would pass the window, there was also a path at the back of the gardens.  There was something idyllic about these cottages lost in the valley. 



I notice from Google maps that they are building new estates further on, Bristol of course is not too far away.  Sad as the countryside is chipped away.

I took them on a camping holiday down to Solva one year.  There I was with my dog and tent and there they were with an enormous amount of stuff in their estate car.  We never left the camping field before lunchtime, things would be sorted time and time again, things lost, it all took a great deal of time and I fretted impatiently.

But it was a good holiday I took them round the sites and the weather kept clear.


Nine Wells walk down to the little bay

Carew Castle

The Bishop's Palace. St Davids.




20 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. You walked straight out of the tiny kitchen into it, it was very pretty.

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  2. That garden is utterly blissful Thelma.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, happy days spent there a long time ago.

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  3. Discovered Solva a few years ago on holiday in Pembrokeshire. Interesting at low tide along the long narrow harbour. The name sounds like it should be in Eastern Europe rather than Wales.

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    1. There are a lot of walks around, walking along the cliffs of course, or over the top to the little beach there. Solva comes from the Norse or so it is said.

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  4. I think if you create a beautiful garden your time on earth has not been wasted.

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    1. Quite right Jenny, always fancied living down there myself. The cottage next door, had a long field behind the back garden which stretched into a wood and seemed to go on forever.

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  5. Replies
    1. Thank you. A bit more cheerful then yesterday's post I think.

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  6. What a lovely garden and such a gorgeous hike! So much beauty and history to explore! Thanks for sharing your lovely country with me!

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    1. Glad you enjoyed it Ellen, Pembrokeshire in Wales has a lot of history and the coastline is good to walk along.

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  7. Lovely garden - just shown it to Tam and we would love something similar here, but having the old mansion dropped and left below the "lawn" (mostly moss) I think it's a non-starter! Lovely photos of places I know.

    As I've said in the past, I've experienced some strange things - channelled odd things - so I keep an open mind.

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    1. My first thought about all that rubble underground, is drainage? Does it have soil on the top, rather than go for a bog garden, one that is 'dry'? Though of course mossy lawns says otherwise.
      As for seeing things at barrows, I just did not happen to believe this particular story. Funnily enough I am with you on there are more things to life than we understand. For instance, dreamt about handbags last night, and then first thing I read this morning was Duchess of Cornwall sporting her expensive bag. Of course it could be coincidence. ;)

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  8. What wonderful friends, and the garden of my dreams.

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  9. Long and thin the garden was carefully tended by my friend, many happy moments there.

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  10. That is the garden that I want but will never have!!

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