The art of drystone walling - by the path to Totley Bents
On Tuesday morning, I undertook the same circular walking route that I have followed four or five times a year for the past thirty five years. According to my "Casio" calculator's advice, that means I have completed the circuit around 150 times. It is located on the southern edge of Sheffield - by car, less than ten minutes from this house.
The weather changes, the seasons change and the walk is never quite the same. In those thirty five years there have been many physical changes too. The wooden stable from which two horses used to peer at me has now fallen down and mosses clothe the rotting timbers. A large brick garage has been turned into a swish house down by Blacka Brook. The boy who used to play in the tree house is now most probably a man, building a new tree house some place else for his own children while the old tree house collapses, forgotten.
As I walked, I sang a made-up song that is gradually emerging from deep within me, forcing its way to the surface:-
Oh where have you gone my bonny lass
And where have you gone my darling?
These questions hang upon the breeze
Like kestrels o'er the moor
Fortunately perhaps, nobody was passing by to hear me. I had the route to myself apart from a solitary jogger.
At Lenny Hill, there's a brand new memorial bench. Who was Trish Brooks?
Perhaps it was this Trish Brooks - a local primary school teacher who died from cancer just last September at the tender age of 63. It makes sense that it should be her. "We will love you and miss you forever"...
Anyway, it is a good place for a new bench - replacing the one that went before it. Hopefully, Trish's bench will last thirty or forty years as her loved ones themselves grow old. Nothing lasts forever - even the drystone wall at the top of this blogpost is impermanent, ephemeral.
Trish's bench on Lenny Hill
How clear and fresh was the air on Tuesday morning as I strolled along to Totley Bents. I halted once again to take my millionth photograph of "The Cricket Inn" and this time I also snapped a picture of the new pub sign on Penny Lane...
Then along to Avenue Farm and by winding Redcar Brook - back to Shorts Lane. To my right there was a sheep pasture but I had to do a double take. Standing there amidst the sheep was a deer. They are skittish creatures but slowly I took out my gun camera and managed to get some rather unsatisfactory pictures of the misplaced animal before reaching Clint, parked against the new drystone wall south of the Far Nova mansion that has replaced Shorts Lane Stables... now consigned to local history...
Sounds like you had a wonderful walk and of course, took some lovely photos. I've been trying to get out more with my camera, I'm taking a photography course and need to practice. We still have snow on the ground, but it's quickly melting and green is appearing again. Yesterday I saw the leaves of a wild strawberry, next to the snow. Nature is amazing.
ReplyDeletesounds alright..... is it a roe deer in the pic or was it a bit smaller like a muntjac or summat? It's not a bad picture at all.... you shouldn't be so harsh...... some of your musings on the ephemeral nature of, well, nature...... sound a bit like Andy Goldsworthy talking about the transience of some of his land based art stuff..... and you know how much i love a bit of Andy Goldsworthy!! Well written, sir!
ReplyDeleteHow nice to have a good day for your walk. It's great when the weather starts warming up and things start blooming and turning green. I love to see those walls and always wonder about the people who took the time to build those - like giant puzzles to put together.
ReplyDeleteNice walk with great description. Clear blue skies for this walk.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you are feeling recuperated enough to do a regular walk; that's good news. Looks like it was an excellent day for it. And you're right, everything is impermanent. It can be difficult to accept, but necessary.
ReplyDeleteNice deer capture and I like the dry wall at the top. The seats by The Cricket Inn, if you lean back and squint, the brown seats look like a herd of small cows. Is Redcar Brook only for red cars to drive along? And Shorts Lane only for people wearing shorts?
ReplyDeleteTell us more about the tune you sang it to!
ReplyDelete"Everything Changes But You". Take That. I have similar thoughts when I walk the hills above where I live. I love drystone walls.
ReplyDeleteYou being out walking shows me that you must be feeling more like your normal self again after the scary episode the other day.
ReplyDeleteIt must have been really good to be out and about on such a sunny spring day, and you know that I feel exactly the same about repeated walks - they are never quite the same, and the changes we observe are on many different levels (last but not least in ourselves).
The sheep look rather relaxed about their visitor. Maybe they know each other well and meet up regularly on that pasture.
That drystone wall is truly a work of art!
PS: And I like the pub sign. It looks both modern and "retro" in a good sense.
ReplyDeleteA lyrical post today. Quite uplifting in these gloomy times.
ReplyDeleteThank you YP.
Darling and moor don't rhyme. Could try "where have you gone my poor", or maybe starling instead of moor.
ReplyDeleteOne thing about walking familiar paths, with camera in hand, is that the camera does tend to make one note even small changes.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing quite like stone walls marching up the hills, reminding us that once not so long ago men worked out in all weather to create them. Tamed land of course.
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a beautiful walk. I love to walk, going about five miles everyday. I am always on the lookout for new places to walk with Shirley. Some of my usual haunts have changed over the years. On some of the parks I frequent there are benches placed like the one you mentioned. I always look at the plaque placed and wonder about the person who lived. Beautiful photos!
ReplyDeleteVale Trish.
ReplyDeleteI am impressed that there is a new dry stone wall.
The Cricket Inn looks idyllic.
ReplyDeleteOf course, being an American I thought of cricket as the insect and not the sport!
I was at burial a couple of years ago, and was saddened by how fast the young, forget those who lived before them. My nephews didn't recognize the names of his great-grandparents - he remarked I don't know who these are, they must be part of my mother's family.
ReplyDeleteYour deer have much thicker coats than ours which would make sense. I saw a young'un standing by the road yesterday, looking into the woods. As I passed she darted into the trees, probably called by her mama.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever thought about taking your lady to the Cricket Inn for a night, just to experience it from the inside? That could be a romantic gesture and then, every time you passed it you would different memories to think about.
A couple years ago while walking in Sugarcreek MetroPark, just a short drive from my home, I took a path different from my usual hike and found a bench dedicated to my son and daughter's first grade teacher. The dedication plaque was touching, especially for those who knew her and appreciated her efforts as children started their educational journeys. She was 63 when she died.
ReplyDeleteAnother very nice walk, I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI have tackled dry stone walling myself, and although it has lasted well, it wasn't as pretty as the one in your picture. The stones were more 'rounded'.
ReplyDeleteIslwyn from the village taught me to dry stone wall and part of the church wall is my work !!
ReplyDelete