Inside the ringing room at the base of the tower. Ancient space heater on right feeds into main body of church.

Virbius lives here in this dark Oak with the dog rose climbing up the trunk and the ivy there too. A misplanted Sweet Chestnut ,to the left, struggles to thrive in unfriendly soil.

This place is near but up away from the main road it has a remoteness and a memory of past times , the tree's age stretching back and connecting with all that has been 'till now. The people who knew these trees in the past and what they knew now sleep in the same earth that feeds the trees and all that thrives above.

Easter Sunday

I am glad to be able to say that I will not be working today. On Friday, having to work next to the local Church, I  was embarrassed at the passing by of the people , all of whom I knew, as they went to the Door . Of course nothing was said. But I got the vibe.

Today although I wont be going to church to partake of the service I will at least be ringing. And will therefore be in a church for a period of the day. Called changes on brand new (2000) bells. 

There has been something of a change in the general discourse . Religion and spirituality are  now  acceptable subjects of enquirey and debate on the radio and the TV. 

A chance

I wonder what will happen when the governments of the world stop trying to halt a process of collapse that they do not understand and cannot control. This is the end of a political paradigm that has been running from the end of WW2 . The ideological battle twixt the Communists and the West. Although the USSR ceased to be some years ago the Western approach to life , shaped to a considerable degree by that struggle, continued on as if it was the natural way to live. Emphasis on individual advancement and "The devil take the hindemost ". The press all howl for the bankers blood as if it really is all their fault and they were not simply doing what everyone else was - trying to make as much money  with as little effort or regard for the rest of reality as was possible...

Walk

Meeting a new friend in the woods! A massive Holly tree in Woods near Hedingham.

"The Holly and the Ivy when they are both full grown .
Of all the trees that are in the wood.
The Holly bears the crown."

Someone has put a metal box hidden under some leaves against the trunk at the back . A votive offering or just a drugs stash ? I didn't look. Privacy is privacy, eh?

I don't know how old she must be but she isn't in very good nick. The main trunk seems nearly dead and the bark gone off it. Shooting from the base very well though.

An enchanted spot methinks.

5 miles

a walk on the higher ground overlooking the Stour valley behind Clare and going towards Cavendish. Some roe deer about and a flock of Golden Plover wheeling about . Sunny with a breeze. two and a half miles each way , just about the right distance for a Sunday.

So quiet