In 1793 Wordsworth fled Paris, disillusioned by Revolution in France. Abandoning his lover and daughter, he was in deep depression. His visit to the Wye Valley was restorative and five years later he reflects upon the healing power of Nature in his poem Tintern Abbey. David Attenborough and Simon Schama consider how Nature helps us cope with the ‘craziness of all the world. We are part of the natural world, not divorced from it. It is our essential cure and Nature must prevail, for our own well-being.’
In 1793 Wordsworth fled Paris, disillusioned by Revolution in France. Abandoning his lover and daughter, he was in deep depression. His visit to the Wye Valley was restorative and five years later he reflects upon the healing power of Nature in his poem Tintern Abbey. David Attenborough and Simon Schama consider how Nature helps us cope with the ‘craziness of all the world. We are part of the natural world, not divorced from it. It is our essential cure and Nature must prevail, for our own well-being.’
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The scale and extent of Collateral Damage shocks us. At Brackenwood, aka The Ghyll, mature trees have been felled and a barrier erected to close off the short-cut footpath from Underwood to the Brigsteer Road, prior to work beginning on SUDS (sustainable urban drainage system). No-one told us about the tree-felling, SUDS, or footpath closures. There are no notices at footpath entry points, nothing on footpath closure, nothing to tell us what is to happen here, or why or when. So we investigate, of our own initiative. A day of floodlights sweeping the fells, followed by shadows. On the horizon, a fell of sunlit snow. A kaleidoscope of the elements. There's a cold wind so we drop below the cairn on Cunswick Fell and sit looking toward Kentmere, trying to make out what we're seeing in all that is subtle and transitory. In lockdown, we walked from home to Scout Scar. The Nature Cure was essential to our well-being. It always is. On foot from Kendal, past Ghyll Brow, past Stainbank Green to Scout Scar, seeking peace, engaging with the natural world and with local people who have long held this place in high regard. Road closed for 6 weeks, from 7/2/22,' reads a road-sign. With our direct and daily route prohibited we have less freedom than in lockdown. It undermines our way of life. |
AuthorJan Wiltshire is a nature writer living in Cumbria. She also explores islands and coast and the wildlife experience. (See Home and My Books) Archives
March 2024
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