Sunday 3 March 2019

Trees, Memorials


We've been seeing so many beautiful and interesting trees in the last few days - and that is not something I usually say at this time of year when tree branches are usually bare, grey and rattling in a chilly wind.  But several days of summery temperatures showed February in a new light.    It was like a sudden slice of summer, except without the leaves.  (The alder tree above, on the canal near Rickmansworth, has no leaves yet, but is covered in golden catkins). 

We have taken every chance to get out around London, with the result that lots of rather important tasks have been neglected here in the Woolf household.   We mostly picked out places randomly on the Ordnance Survey maps. These great maps are full of incredible detail, and you can use them to plan a route to see all kinds of features that aren't much publicised.

T. has all the OS maps on his phone. My picture shows part of an older, paper map which is now out of date (personally I still like the paper maps.)  This fragment of the East Chiltern Hills paper map - in Buckinghamshire, north of London - shows Burnham Beeches nature reserve (the blue bird symbol) a car park (a blue P symbol) a long distance footpath (green blobs and dashes) and many other small public tracks (black or green dashes). 

There are very ancient landscape features - see the moat and the settlement?  The terrain is fairly flat, with a slightly steeper bit round Victoria Drive.  Some of the old names recall past features of the landscape ("Kilnwood" was likely used by charcoal burners), and narrow minor roads (less than 4 metres/12 feet wide) are yellow, larger minor roads are brown. You'll also see Dorneywood on the bottom left.  Dorneywood house is a grand grace-and-favour residence for Cabinet ministers.  It is known for its beautiful 1930s style gardens, which are open to the public in warmer months, so who knows -  you might even spot a top politician if you go. Although personally I have seen enough politicians lately to last me a good while.  


 Burnham Beeches has some very old, gnarled and characterful trees. 




Nearby Stoke Common nature reserve couldn't be more different. It consists of a curious swampy heathland with conifers and marsh plants, criss crossed by (fairly dry) paths.  It is an oddly fascinating landscape and is owned by the rich burghers of the City of London who are conscientiously restoring the habitat to encourage wildlife. We met some dogwalkers who were thrilled that previously absent birds like woodlarks and stonechats are now breeding there again.  


Another day we walked near the charming little town of Wendover, and in the woodland I spotted a few trees which had acquired hand knitted scarves.  I think these are to make a political point - the very unpopular new railway line, HS2, is going to crash through the area and spoil the view. I wouldn't mind a scarf like that, though. 


A little further from the scarf-clad trees Combe Wood opened into a sunny hillside with wide views over surrounding countryside.  The light was golden, although it was only about 2.30 PM,  and the air was so warm and benign that we were in teeshirts.



There were strange humps all over parts of the hillside. I bet they are anthills. I wonder how many ants there are hibernating under that turf!   I'm told they do a good job keeping down greenfly and are winter food for woodpeckers. 


 A bit further on we spotted a garden with what looked like clumps of  purple heather, though I didn't think heather has flowers in early Spring. But the bumblebees were working hard and there were several big yellow brimstone butterflies fluttering about. It was very strange to know it was February and yet the air was full of these summery sights and sounds. 


It's obviously because of global warming, which is worrying, but I am doing my bit by supporting charities that help the environment - Plantlife, Buglife, R.S.P.B, Woodland Trust, National Trust, Countryside Restoration Trust, Suffolk Wildlife Trust. They all seem to agree roughly on what needs to be done, and they need all the support in the world to achieve it.   

A bit further west, in Hambleden, Bucks, snowdrops were out in the churchyard - sorry it's a blurred picture.  



You can see a bit of the old church on the right.   Inside I noticed that the verses on the imposing old tomb of Cope and Martha D'Oyley are very interesting. Here they are with their ten children - sorry, my photo does't show them all. The ones carrying skulls died before their parents.  


I do visit Hambleden occasionally and had seen the tomb before, but hadn't really noticed the  epitaphs. Reading them again, I thought they seem to be hinting at something. After some thought I decided that Cope and Martha might have been accused of some kind of unworthiness, which their family would naturally have wished to refute.  Read Cope's epitaph, and see if you agree  (I have put some of it in modern language below) ...



"Ask not me who's buried here (Don't ask who is buried here)
Go, ask the commons, ask the shire [ask people in the local area]
Go, ask the church, they'll tell you who,
As well as blubbered (tearful) eyes can do.
Go, ask the heralds, ask the poor
Your ears shall hear enough to ask no more.
Then, if thy eye bedews this sacred urn [if you weep tears over their ashes]
Each drop a pearl will turn
To adorn his tomb.  Or, if it you can not vent
You bring more marble to his monument." [if you cannot weep, then you are as hard as this marble monument].

There is another rhyme relating to Martha too, but my Biblical knowledge isn't quite good enough to interpret that.

We also cycled round London, where Spring was coming to the Inns of Court... 


 London Zoo is on one of our main cycling routes, and whenever I go that way I always look through the fence to see how the giraffes are doing. This time I saw they have a new way of feeding, from tall feeders hung on a rope.  I don't know what the baby giraffes do; perhaps they have special low feeders. 


On another day of sunshine, we met up with V, our older daughter, and wandered around, calling at the Crossbones graveyard which memorialises rejected, abandoned and rejected people. Although it sounds depressing,  it is an uplifting place. Many of us have a relative or friend who somehow took wrong turnings, or possibly took their own lives, and it is good to remember them and celebrate the many good things they did.  

 The entrance gates are hung with all kinds of little memorials and there are regular remembrance ceremonies.  It's entirely a community initiative. Transport for London, which owned the land,  was persuaded to let it become a garden by a bunch of volunteers, who now maintain and cherish it.   


The poet John Constable was the driving force behind  the scheme. He was very moved because this patch of land is the last resting place of many unnamed women (and their children) in medieval times who were licensed as prostitutes by the local bishop, but not allowed to be buried in consecrated ground.  


The thing about going out with V is that she seems to have become an expert on London's coffee shops, of which there must be thousands. The sign outside this one, in Lower Marsh, SE1, amused us.  The coffee was good, too. 



54 comments:

  1. You have been out and about in that glorious weather!
    The Inns of Court photograph left me quite nostalgic while the coffee shop siogn made me laugh.

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    1. The Inns of Court make even me feel nostalgic, I can remember when so many parts of "ordinary "central London were like this, (although a bit tattier) and I expect you can too.

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  2. What an incredible series of tree pictures. I really enjoyed travelling with you to see these beauties. Let us hope that this unusual weather in February causing premature leafing out does not result in damage to the trees if conditions return to more seasonal values, or if you have a sudden cold snap. Like you, I prefer paper maps. They are like old friends, sometimes a bit rumpled and creased but always wonderful to see.

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    1. Yes, OS maps are actually full of stories and clues. The place names are so interesting, and many the time I have made a detour because of the OS map to find something unexpected and intriguing in an apparently uninteresting area. Not the same when you have to squint at the phone! :)

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  3. Many good photos, and I like the closing sign.

    The two Burnham Beeches tree photos are excellent.

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    1. Yes, the sign was getting some attention! which is quite a feat when there are so many coffee shop signs around.

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  4. That last picture made me laugh.
    What a great post! Such beautiful, beautiful woods and forests and grounds and churches and cemeteries to tramp and explore. I am greatly envious of your British hiking opportunities. Another blogger I read (http://beefgravy.blogspot.com/) also uses ordnance maps and takes great, long hikes frequently. I always enjoy his pictures too. As always, thank you, Jenny, for sharing. That cemetery for the "unconsecrated" truly moved me.

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    1. It is a very moving place. The little photos and momentoes of the people remind me that the folk who inhabit this underworld of lost souls, all have their value. It is dismaying to think what some of them must have suffered to bring them to this.

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  5. So much, I went through three times. I found it fascinating, somber, evocative. I went back a couple of times to look at Burnham Beeches Nature Reserve map, tucked up against a regular neighborhood of streets, with houses and people. It's a real world.

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    1. Thanks, Joanne. Going into one of these nature reserves can feel like stepping back in time. Without the buildings to distract you, you feel closer to the folk of the past walking the heaths and meadows of their time.

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  6. Lovely post, Jenny Thank you
    The green mossy tree is marvelous, perfect for climbing and day dreaming. The coffee shop sign 50 yards makes me laugh. Happy Spring!

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    1. I would have been spending all day climbing trees there if I was a kid. Some were so inviting! even now.....

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  7. Oh, I loved this post! The trees!! All throughout the post you have the most interesting trees. The scarves on the tree, the anthills, and the gravestones--so glad you brought us with. :)

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    1. Trees are quite the personalities, in a forest I often feel as if I am surrounded by living people rather than just living plants. I don't suppose they have any form of consciousness, but there again, we don't know for sure! LOL

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  8. Gorgeous gnarly trees! You had some lovely outings - the little spot of nicer weather was certainly put to good use :D) Love the idea of the remembrance gardens. Fun coffee shop sign! All the best and cheers to you Jenny

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  9. Hello Jenny, These magnificent trees are truly a wonder of nature. I think my favorite photo is the marshy one; the combination of water and trees looks mysterious. Speaking of trees, they are rebuilding the park across from my apartment, and in the process have destroyed a number of very large, mature trees, which we need in the city, and they have provided nothing in return except bad design!
    --Jim

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    1. I always feel sad when I see huge trees felled, they are such marvels of nature and you know also that it is just a bit less for the birds to use. I took dozens of pictures of the marshland, it fascinated me because at times it looked like one of those landscapes in science fiction films!

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  10. A wonderful post, full of some favorites for me--trees, giraffes and the calm of cemeteries. Thanks for the photos. Glad you are well.

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    1. Thank you, e. I'm glad someone has mentioned the giraffes!

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  11. The more i learn, the more i realize it would take a lifetime to simply see all that London and it's environs have to offer.

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    1. Yes, like all big cities, too, London is constantly changing. I love the feeling of all those people going about their business and leaving their mark.

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  12. Ordnance Survey is one thing that we can be proud off. Begun to help defend against the French and kept up since, though now privatised I think, thank you Tories, they do have an old map site worth using to compare old with new. https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/ It is possible to get lost in such maps.
    I am not sure I can remember a February that brought so much warmth! Global warming indeed. I still expect snow in April as always however.
    Excellent photos once again, lovely sunshine, well taken shots. Not sure I would want to see politicians when out there...
    Coffee sign excellent! Well done once again.

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    1. That is a very interesting site. Will bookmark it. By comparing old maps you can often find interesting things. In one map a house might be only marked as a blog, in a later map it might have a name and you realise it is somewhere famous, or whose name is descriptive of something in the area. I do appreciate OS maps when I have to manage with some of the rotten maps they have elsewhere. Google maps is particularly horrible, but you can get an OS app on the phone which shows you where you are in relation to everything else. Marvellous bit of modern technology!

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  13. Although I've heard and seen a few early bees (and even a wasp) already, no sightings of butterflies yet - I hope they remain in hiding until it really stays warm enough for them and they find food with enough flowers open.
    The gnarled tree is my favourite picture of this lot! I don't mind the trees not having any leaves yet this time of year; it makes their structure more visible.

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    1. We saw a lot of wasps flying around the balcony this morning - Im starting to wonder if a wasps nest we had removed last year has been rebuilt. I don't know if wasps like to return to the same place year after year. However, this year we have joined Buglife because of the plight of insects worldwide and won't want to get the exterminator in. But oh dear... don't want wasps everywhere. Wonder what to do?!

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  14. What fun, lots of interesting things to see in this post. I come from a family who all love maps, and enjoyed this little old map very much, right down to the blue bird. The footpaths in England fascinate me, winding around in the woods and countryside - and what gorgeous trees you have seen and shown us. What an amazing tomb for the large family with ten children, a lovely memorial of them all. The only African animal which really appeals to me is the giraffe, and don't they look cute there with their high wire meal. Never been to London Zoo - must rectify that :)

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    1. The footpaths are wonderful, usually relics of old tracks that people walked to and fro on to get to their place of work or visit their friends. I sometimes wonder what it must have been like when that was almost all there was! the tomb is very splendid, although tombs of that size and type can be found in quite a few churches - of course they are all entirely different in looks, dedications etc. but just a similar style.

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  15. An enjoyable read, Jenny. Thank you. I noticed that the trees were in advance if themselves due to the weather. What a lovely break that was. I cried More, More, but my plea was totally ignored :)

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    1. Yes, the weather has certainly made up for it since!!!!

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  16. Magnificent sharing dear Jenny!

    how this unusual weather gave you chance to explore such striking beauty of nature around you :)

    you are brilliant at your captures except one image

    i found your photos as well caught as paintings !

    each image is in perfect frame !

    i found tombs and epithets little upsetting and touching

    how weird to licence women for being prostitutes and then not allowing them to be buried in same graveyard ,such a painful aspect of hypocrisy .

    this is lovely to spend time with your precious daughter over coffee at such nice place :)

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    1. thanks Baili. It is indeed hypocritical to license women in this way and then deny them a holy burial. But then hypocrisy is always part of prostitution. Nice to think of the positive feelings from the flowers and remembrance.

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  17. I don't know what I most love about this post because it is all so rich with history and beauty. Those trees are stunning. I'm so glad you had good weather for going about and tromping in the woods. Some of your lighting is especially gorgeous. And the church at Brambleton (?) -- what a splendid monument. It sounds as though whomever died had a tough time of it or may have been dearly loved. It's so hard to know. Thanks for the translation.

    The graveyard touches me. I'm glad there is such a place. Fun to see your London views, too, and know you had a wonderful time with V.

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    1. Thnks for your comments, Jeanie. We always enjoy going round with V, she has such a knowledge of curious and interesting spots in London. I thought I knew the city well but she usually shows me something I never heard of. When she first showed me the graveyard it was just a parking lot so it is such a thrill that concerned folk have been given the chance to turn it into a proper memorial garden.

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  18. There are a important things to do at home, but it would be terrible loss to sit inside and miss the splendid, sunny mild days you are gifted in winter. The trees are magnificent and I am so glad that you shared them with us.

    The graveyard touched me so. We all know of someone who was a lost soul and left this world too early. How wonderful that they are not forgotten.

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    1. thanks for your nice post. It is always surprising how many of us do know lost souls. They are so often cast aside yet our particular lost soul had a unique, unusual and wonderful character....

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  19. I'm playing catch up with online friends today. What a wonderful post. I really like that old map. It must be fun to visit all the out of the way places. The coffee sign is hilarious!

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    1. The map is so interesting but not so very old, an updated version is online which is very similar but completely up to date. I love the look of them as well as the stuff on them!

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  20. Wow, you got some shots of really gorgeous trees. I'm a fan anyway, even of scrubby little trees. I especially like the birches adn the swampy photo.

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    1. Swampy one is my favourite too! I like different trees at different times of year, they each seem to come in to their own in a particular season.

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  21. It's amazing how many trees and bushes normally dormant at this time of year are suddenly springing into life because of the unusually warm weather. I've been to Burnham Beeches - a lovely spot.

    I was wondering if the scarves on the tree were an example of yarn bombing (covering objects with decorative knitted or crocheted material). Those huge anthills are extraordinary, I've never seen anything like that.

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    1. I think it is yarn bombing. I have never been entirely clear what the point of that is! I don't know whether that goes with the notice about the train, either.

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  22. I am so sad for the trees. I hope the railroad is not coming through that beautiful place.

    cheers, parsnip

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    1. The railway is coming not far away, it's a ghastly thing which nobody wants, it seems.

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  23. sound the last photo is convenient place to drink coffee.

    have a great day

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  24. I always read with pleasure your posts, Jenny. This one about trees in National trust amuzed me - such wonderful pictures, especially the 4th one, this tree is awesome.
    I also have read about church and graveyard, and liked your thoughts as 'it is good to remember them and celebrate the many good things they did'. I completetly agree, Jenny.
    Hugs!

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    1. Thank you so much Nadezda! I have made a note and will plant some next autumn.

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  25. As always a wonderful array of photos...including fifty shades of coffee....with whipped cream, no doubt!

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  26. Wonderful, Jenny. Lots of memories for me in the woods and London scenes. You're the only person who makes me regret my loss of Britishness because you show me the London I grew up in and loved. Still, I can visit, even with a Dutch passport! Thank you for these beautiful views and reminders of old. I love the epitaph!

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    1. Yes, you can still visit - it's tough that the Dutch don't allow dual nationality! I have an Irish passport but would be sad to give up my British one, even though I disapprove so strongly of the way things are going here at the moment.

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  27. Ha - I loved the "Last chance for coffee" sign but I especially loved the glorious tree photographs - such a graceful tree - thanks for sharing these.

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    1. Glad you liked the tree photos! :) thanks for calling by.

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  28. So many wonderful public places to explore! I like trees and woodlands. We've had several yarn-bombings here, and they made a big hit :)

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