Cumbria Naturally
  • Home
  • Blog
  • My Books
    • Cumbrian Contrasts
    • A Lakeland Experience >
      • Introduction
      • Derwent
      • Langdale
      • Ullswater
      • Kentdale
    • About Scout Scar
    • Atlantic Odyssey
  • Other Writing
    • What Larks!
    • Further - Explore Shetland
    • Autumn Migration
    • Rydal and Nab Scar
    • Perspectives
    • The River Kent
    • Wings
  • Gallery
  • Contact

Adlestrop

20/6/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Adlestrop-  Edward Thomas saw only the name when his train first drew up at the station.  As his gaze fell upon an English countryside he gave us a moment in time, a moment of stillness and peace. It was late June 1914.
'What I saw
Was Adlestrop - only the name
And willows, willow-herb, and grass,
And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry--
And for that minute a blackbird sang
Close by, and round him, mistier,
Farther and farther, all the birds
 Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.'


His love of  English landscape must have deepened as Thomas worked on the poem and The Great War took hold and he chose to go to The Western Front where he was killed.  How might he have remembered Adlestrop as it slipped away and out of reach?   
Home from abroad in May, I chose an English bluebell wood and we spent a day in Somerset.   Long Wood and Velvet Bottom, awash with bluebells.  Had we ever seen anything so glorious, asked a Canadian couple  whom we met  among the bluebells beneath beech leaves unfurling fresh and bright.  Yes, when last I was here in springtime in this bluebell wood alive with birdsong. 
I seem to have known  and loved 'Adlestrop' almost as long as I've loved a bluebell wood.  And on rainy days it's a delight to return to poetry and prose which seeks to capture their essence.  Of  English woodlands, and countryside.
I recently heard a Welshman speaking with pride of being Welsh as he mended a stone wall in Snowdonia. His father and grandfather had worked as agricultural labourers here before him and this landscape defines who he is, his heritage through generations.  That struck a chord. 
So, for landscape and for all the birds of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire what hope is there? Late June 2018 and Countryfile had a feature on Sir James Dyson whose vision for farming in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire and Lincolnshire gives hope for the future.  He has the vision and the resources to plan long-term.  He has planted miles of hedgerows and looks to stewardship of the countryside.  He seeks to minimize the use of chemicals, to tread lightly. It's high-tech and forward-looking.  The production of food is in harmony with conservation.  An investment in the future.  
Edward Thomas wouldn't recognise the Dyson 21st century agricultural landscapes but perhaps there's hope for the birds of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.   And perhaps I might return to vacuuming with a renewed enthusiasm.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Jan Wiltshire is a nature writer living in Cumbria. She also explores islands and coast and the wildlife experience. (See Home and My Books)

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    November 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    April 2010
    January 2010
    November 2009
    January 2009
    January 2004

    Categories

    All
    A Local Patch
    Birdlife
    Butterflies And Moths
    Flowers
    Locations
    Views
    Walks
    Weather
    WIldlife

    RSS Feed

Website
Home
Blog
Gallery
Contact



​Cookie Policy
My Books
  • Intro - My books
  • ​Cumbrian Contrasts
  • A Lakeland Experience
  • About Scout Scar
  • Atlantic Odyssey
    ​
Other Writing
  • Intro - Other Writing
  • What Larks!
  • Further - Explore Shetland
  • Autumn Migration
  • Rydal and Nab Scar
  • Perspectives
  • The River Kent
  • Wings
Jan Wiltshire - Cumbria Naturally
© Jan Wiltshire 2022 All rights reserved
Website by Treble3