Clive Wilkinson, of Rothbury, continues his occasional series of musings on country life…
Our late-lamented friend and neighbour, John Wallace, used to come into our house and make straight for the sitting room window. He would stand and look for a few moments and then say, in his lovely lilting Irish brogue, ‘That’s a wonderful tree.’ And we would stand beside him and share that special moment.
Patrick Norris, of Footsteps guided walks based in Northumberland, sent us this magnificent photograph of The Erratic alongside a poem he has written. As an introduction, he writes:
The Erratic in question sits high on Bewick Moor deep in rural Northumberland. It is listed on the British Geological Survey website and their literature preceding the internet. In a curious twist, the moor is mis-named in the listing as Berwick Moor, rather than Bewick Moor. The photograph that accompanies the listing on the BGS website was taken in 1925 and nothing much has changed. The poem reflects on the landscape and that we are just passing through, the erratic though has sat in the same place for about 10,000 years and watched us pass by.
Jean Tweedle, of Ponteland, Newcastle, reflects on her memories of a childhood in nature
The beautiful article by Mike Pratt in The Northumbrian issue 180 highlighting the benefits of the younger generation’s exploration of nature brought back memories of exciting nature walks and outings in my childhood and teen years. My sister and I were extremely fortunate in spending several years living in a tiny hamlet in Scotland. Quite nearby there were fairly extensive woods which were a magical kingdom to enter. My father, who was an excellent artist, was equipped with sketch book and pencils and we had our own little pads too. Every day, in all weathers during the holidays, we were “off to the woods”.