My May Day wanderings took Toby and I along our favourite riverbank.
It was tranquil, beautiful, restorative.
Toby was happy to amble and give his nose a really good workout, so I fell to thinking about the countless people who must have wondered along the riverbank through the centuries.
This 1610 map shows that very river,
below you can see what it looks like today.
below you can see what it looks like today.
Some villages have disappeared, and the placement of other villages on the map is definitely not accurate, but who cares?
I love maps, especially of places I am familiar with.
I read them with almost
the same excitement as I read a good book.
How quaint the old spellings of place names.
The big red blobs (as splodged on by the cartographer) show the churches which existed at that time.
Many are still standing and are much loved.
However, others, including the one in our village,
have long-since disappeared.
The Merry Month of May must work some magic, for the trees are only just coming into leaf. I know she won't disappoint.
We roamed the fields and river sides,
When we were young and gay
We chased the bees and plucked the flowers
In the merry, merry month of May
Stephen Foster
We had company, for part of our walk.
She was exceptionally friendly and came out of her way to walk alongside us.
No walk would be complete without a visit to Arnold.
He was happy to feel the warm May sunshine on his back.
Aaah! Bliss.
Time to go home to begin the mowing and the weeding,
the growing season has begun.
A lovely post Elaine.
ReplyDeleteI love to see old maps. It shows us how things were way back when.
The river there by you looks beautiful.. how lovely to walk along the banks. I am sure Toby enjoyed it too.
A great little poem for May
Your weather looks like ours now.. weeding and getting down to garden stuff.
val
Thank you for you comments..always nice to see you.
Happy Thursday..
Hello Val, Every walk I take with Toby is very special as I know he won't be here for much longer. May is definitely bursting into life - our gardens are behind yours, but we are getting there. It is a magical month. Have a great weekend!
DeleteHow interesting? Do you have a copy of the Domesday Book....or Anglo Saxon Chronicles? They make fascinating reading.
ReplyDeleteJane x
Hello Jane, I do have a copy of the Domesday Book, I must find it up and have another browse...may have to re-jig everything on my bedside table to fit it in though!
DeleteI do the cartography for our company so maps are a great love of mine as well. When I was growing up my bedroom was wallpapered in very old maps of the world, inserts taken from old National Geographic magazines. All lacquered permanently in place, I would lay in bed with a flashlight studying all of them and dreaming of traveling to all the far off places.
ReplyDeleteI have a drawer full of old National Geographic maps. What a charming idea to use them to wallpaper a boys room. I hope you got to travel to some of those exotic places!
DeleteHello Doc, That sounds a wonderful way to feed a young boy's imagination. Lucky you! I confess that even a book of road maps can keep me happily occupied, if necessary...how sad is that!
DeleteI love spring when the green of everything always looks freshly washed.
ReplyDeleteHello Joanne, I know just what you mean - and it is beautiful!
DeleteI can imagine that for cows and horses, standing in a field all day gets pretty boring. I'm sure that having a friendly human and dog coming by is great entertainment. Your photo of the river bend is just wonderful!
ReplyDeleteHello Ms Sparrow, It is one of the joys of having to walk more slowly with old Toby, I have the time to stand and stare, to think and simply enjoy their company. I used to be rush, rush, rush!
Deletebeautiful stuff... I love old maps too and have a great one of Lincolnshire in my kitchen... do come by for a cuppa when you're next on your way round x
ReplyDeleteHello Dom, Thank you, I'll do that. One of the fascinations for me, is some of the wonderful place names.
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