Good evening, my fine fibrous friends. I hope that you’re so far ahead in your Christmas knitting/crochet, that you have plenty of time to read this post. And if you don’t celebrate Christmas, I hope that your Thursday has nevertheless been filled with joy and productivity (and yarn – lots and lots of luscious yarn).
Today at the Twisted Yarn, we’re going to engage in a wee smidgeon of time travel.
I hope you don’t mind if I knit whilst we talk? I’m a little behind with the projects that I want to show you (partly due to the shock of the fire at work), and also I’m knitting a Christmas gift which I can’t mention because the recipient reads here, and he doesn’t know that I’m knitting for him. (No, Stoic Spouse, stop looking so terrified: it’s not you!)
So whilst I knit frantically, let’s travel back in time a couple of months, because I want to show you some interesting photographs. No wait, these pictures were taken in October, but really we’re travelling back well over two thousand years to the Iron Age in what is now Britain. One of the things that I love about Oxfordshire is how deeply and obviously its landscape has been marked by our ancient forebears. (I’ve talked before about the Ridgeway and Blewburton Hill. And skipping forwards many centuries, also ( 😉 ) about our family seat.)
One day a few weeks ago when the Tyrannical Twinnage were on their very first break from school and my newly-transplanted-to-Oxfordshire parents happened to be free, I nagged everyone into a trip back to the Iron Age. Not far from my parents’ new home is Segsbury Camp, a hill fort reckoned to be between 2200 and 2600 years old. Here it is on the map (marked ‘fort’ in the centre of this image):-
On the map above, the pink diamonds mark the Ridgeway, and we climbed the hill from Letcombe Bassett at five-year-olds’ pace. There were some decent views across autumnal Oxfordshire, such as this:-
And this:-
And also this:-
And then at last we reached the fort. Can you imagine the men who would have guarded these ramparts and the wooden structures contained within its curtilage?
The sides remain steep. How many hours were taken to build these ramparts by hand?
I can’t help being impressed. (Even the twinnage were fairly interested.)
We walked the perimeter of the fort, and admired the fruits of autumn, such as sloes. (Why did I not get round to making sloe gin this year?)
And hips:-
And then, spurred on by the not gentle sound of children whinging, we descended the hill again.
I always feel a little meditative after such experiences, as though I’ve almost been able to reach out and touch those ancient people. They’re not so very far away from us, you know.
That’s why I’m an Anglophile – see got Phil in – because you have ancient ancient stuff ……. We go back a couple hundred or so years ……
But everywhere is ancient… in different ways. (I’m deep, me, after a couple of glasses of wine.)
Yeah it’s deep ……. ancient and deep!!!!!!!
This is why I wish I lived in a place like England – I could drag my husband to hills in the middle of nowhere and we could walk around, looking for likely mounds and depressions, at which point we could suggest getting GeoPhys in to have a look at what’s under the ground before we dig. (So I probably wish I lived in a Time Team episode, really.)
Ah, but you have many vineyards, don’t you? Life can’t be all bad.
Thanks for sharing the pictures.
You’re very welcome. I just wish I’d been a little more timely about it!
I now want to travel to England, in addition to Ireland. After watching/reading 84, Charring Cross Road by Helene Hanff, I’ve realized I will need to travel to London many times to view each of the versions that are embedded within.
As for those adventurous asides, perhaps you could do a side not of What I like about…wool/needles/accessories…and simply though not near as effortlessly, stick it plum at the bottom right after we read how cute the tyrannical twinnage have been at school, or on break, or making “new discoveries” about their world…or perhaps some curious connections… (Sorry, I’m tired, I can’t seem to turn it off tonight.)
Do come and visit our isle one day! We’ll try not to disappoint. (And thank you for your ideas in your second paragraph. 🙂 I need to go away and ponder…)
Lovely photos, such a beautiful country ….
Corine
Thank you on both counts. 🙂
Did they knit? I expect so. There’s a yarn in those ramparts for sure.
I’d like to think that they did. They must have been hardy, practical folk.
What a nice day out. I love sites like this…as well as that late season fruit!
They bloody well are!
that gave me such peace. Thank you. AND giggles, as always. I also want to thank you for your receipt for knitted Christmas trees. I knitted a lot, and my son in law- who is a lieutenant general – decorated his tree in an awesome and sacred way (even though he is not so fond of religions) and we had a great time decorating them.
Have a great new knitting year – and photoing year, dear you. And I am not so very afraid 🙂
Beautiful walk. Thanks for sharing!