I took the picture shown above before I even reached Norton Disney. I had just brought Clint to a shuddering halt outside Norton Disney Lodge which is a mile west of the village. I am looking down Newark Road - Newark being the closest significant town - after which Newark in New Jersey was named.
After donning my boots in Norton Disney I set off to the neighbouring village of Stapleford with its interesting and remote church some distance from the village and without proper road access. It is called All Saints and it has stood by The River Witham since the eleventh century.
I crossed the river and headed towards the next village called Carlton-le-Moorland. On the way my eye was drawn to the lonesome tree that you can see in the picture above. The land around it is like a prairie devoted to grain crops from which wild Nature has more or less been banished.
Above that's a photograph of St Mary's Church in Carlton. It also dates from the eleventh century and building probably commenced soon after the Norman Conquest. The interior was well-maintained suggesting that the church is well loved by the local community. Below there's a section of one of the stained glass windows. It's not especially old, dating from 1901 and in memory of a local woman called Mary Jalland.
The next village I plodded to was Bassingham. I had never heard of it before planning this walk but it boasts a population of some 1,500 and rising. It is only eight miles from the city of Lincoln. Below - that is Cobblers Cottage in Bassingham. It appears that the topiary to the right is meant to suggest a boot. Well, that's my theory anyway.
On my walk, I came across this old agricultural shed beneath an autumnal oak tree. The image probably appealed to me as I am a sucker for old sheds and tumbledown farm buildings. I took a dozen pictures of this shed which of course I would never have done if there had been a roll of film in my camera.
From Bassingham I plodded through one or two muddy fields heading towards the former site of RAF Swinderby - an air force base dating back to 1940. It closed in 1993 when the domestic part of the base became a new village called Witham St Hughs.
It was about 3.30 by the time I got there and the cloak of night was already beginning to envelop the landscape as you can tell from the image shown below. It was time to get marching like a soldier as I still had two miles to go to get back to Norton Disney and my faithful petrol-driven steed - Sir Clint.
*Ghostland - In Search of a Haunted Country* appeared in 2020, the first
ReplyDeleteyear of lockdown. Your last photograph would be good on the book's cover.
*Reading from Ghostland - Edward Parnell.*
YouTube.
Thanks for the nudge.
DeleteInteresting that there are so many villages that are walkable in a few hours.
ReplyDeleteYes. Definitely not like the area around Esk!
DeleteParticularly when Esk is gone and now the distance between Lanigan and Jansen is about 16 miles.
DeleteI love the cottage and I see the boot!
ReplyDeleteGood. Your eyesight is okay then Bob.
DeleteThe topiary looks very much like a boot. I like the last photo with trees marching off into the distance.
ReplyDeleteThat district is pretty flat.
DeleteThe "D's" in the text in the stained glass are clearly read, so if the name was Dalland you'd know. I can't see a "Y" in that square though either.
ReplyDeleteThe topiary is definitely a boot and I like the old shed too, it's a good size and well kept.
Thanks for having a look at that puzzling letter.
DeleteI did a bit more research and discovered that the puzzling letter is a "J" so the name is Jalland, Mary Jalland.
DeleteAs a fellow sucker for old and tumbledown buildings, I can see why that shed under the oak tree appealed to you.
ReplyDeleteThe topiary is definitely meant to be a boot.
Did you reach Clint at near darkness, or was there enough daylight left for you to see comfortably where you were walking?
Anyway, a very good walk with plenty to look at and think about.
I got back to Clint in twilight or what I might refer to as "the gloaming". I love that word and first encountered it in "Sunset Song" by Lewis Grassic Gibbon.
DeleteA beautiful spot for a walk. That stained glass window looks very much in the same style as the one in our chapel. Ours also dates from 1901 so it could possibly have been made by the same people.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the late Victorians developed new methods of creating stained glass - there are so many bright colours.
DeleteEngland as beautiful as ever. Even the shed has a tidy edge to it. You are lucky on your walks.
ReplyDeleteI never know what I might see... or indeed narrowly miss.
DeleteI am also a sucker for old tumble down Agricultural sheds, ruins, drystone walls and allotments .
ReplyDeleteLovely photos and a lovely tour of that part of the country. The shadows are getting so long, not much longer until the solstice. We have been lucky here with no snow, so the light remains golden. As soon as the snow arrives, the light will turn blue, sigh.
ReplyDeleteYou would love the old barn or stable or whatever it is on our property. It's a lovely old thing.
ReplyDeleteYou got some amazing shots here. You truly did. That last one is stellar.
A pretty walk, and yes, digital has really changed how many images we capture.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful autumn photos, and of course sunshine and blue skies always add that little "extra". Love the stained glass windows too!
ReplyDeleteSo you like the gloaming ?
ReplyDeleteSir Harry Lauder sang *roaming in the gloaming wi' a lassie by my side* .
Robert Goulet & Sally Ann Howes sing *the mist of May is in the gloaming*
from The Heather on the Hill (Brigadoon - Fritz Loewe & Allen Jay Lerner).
And there was the 19th Century song, In the Gloaming.
*A Victorian woman's Composition : A Love Story - In the Gloaming.*
YouTube. Patricia Hammond Songs.
Alice Elliott Dark has a book of short stories, *In the Gloaming*.
I have the 1993 copy of The New Yorker in which the story first appeared.
That is definitely a boot. I concur!
ReplyDeleteNewark, England is much prettier than Newark, New Jersey.
Excellent photos as always, and I'm struck by how autumnal much of the foliage still is. The first photo is a delight and I can just imagine walking down that road.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful day for your hike, Neil. I love those blue skies.
ReplyDelete