Out And About.

[mongers]

I may have been here too long...I was down at one of the US bases the other day, and responded to a fellow 'Merican with a "cheers" instead of a "thank you". 

Yep, you've gone fully native.

[garbon]

Had a nice walk around Greenwich Park and Blackheath. Good timing between yesterday's rain and this evening's showers.

[mongers]

Had a nice walk around Greenwich Park and Blackheath. Good timing between yesterday's rain and this evening's showers.

But so jealous, one of the things I love about London is getting on the Victoria(?) line or cycling to Greenwich, seeing the museums and going for a wander in the Park and around the observatory.

Also like taking a break on the first bench I find there that's on the other side of the Meridian; almost feels like one is in the Orient. 

[mongers]

Cycling back through the forest edge I saw my first  foal of the year, it was a beautiful silvery pewter / gunmetal grey, not much more than 2-3 days old

[mongers]

Saw my first baby donkey of the year.

Got delayed on my way out, had to wait for a couple of dozen horses trotting down the lane.

Once I was on the Wiltshire/Hampshire downs it was a glorious day, no tourists up there, even saw a skylark for the first time!

I hear them often when they're singing on the wing, but first time I've seen one sitting on a fence post, just looked like a typical nondescript small brown bird.

[mongers]

Yesterday evening I inadvertently attended the Summer solstice at Stonehenge:

[Duque de Bragança]

mongers = crypto-pagan   

[Syt]

Nice, mongers.

[mongers]

mongers = crypto-pagan   

I notice one coach-load worth of well-off pagans travelling there on foot, another dozen in very nice travellers vans, some young women waiting at woodhenge and when I was at the heel stone one proper hippy did turn up.

I didn't hang around for 'King Arthur' to turn up in his druidic garb, as is his want. 

[garbon]

I haven't been out and about to see it now, but based on when I did see it before (/my class got lost trying to see it), feels more appropriate for this thread vs. the Brexit one.

Campaign hopes to shore up Offa's Dyke against future threats

The 1,200-year-old earthwork on Welsh-English border is suffering serious damage from lack of upkeep

Steven Morris
@stevenmorris20
Mon 5 Jul 2021 13.17 BST

It is Britain's longest monument and one of the most extraordinary: a 1,200-year-old earthwork that snakes through moor, mountain, field and back garden, crisscrossing the modern incarnation of the Welsh and English border.

But concerns are being raised that Offa's Dyke is suffering serious damage through a combination of neglect, carelessness or, in some cases, land grabs and vandalism.

This month, to mark the 50th anniversary of the opening of the 177-mile Offa's Dyke path, a campaign is being launched to highlight the jeopardy the earthwork faces and to raise money to begin repairing sections of it, a task that will take years.

Dan Llywelyn Hall, an artist who is leading the campaign, said that while the path – which links Sedbury Cliffs near Chepstow on the banks of the Severn estuary in the south with the coastal town of Prestatyn on the shores of the Irish Sea in the north – was much loved, the dyke itself was less cherished despite being hugely important for the history and culture it represents and as one of the UK's largest nature corridors.

The dyke had something of an image problem, he said. "It's not the most glamorous of monuments, to be honest." Built in the late eighth century by the Anglo-Saxon king Offa, probably to divide his kingdom of Mercia from rivals in what is now Wales, about 80 miles survived but it is broken and gap-toothed. "Not a single coin and virtually zero archaeological findings have been discovered in it," said Hall.

He admits it took him a while to come to admire and then love the structure but it gradually drew him in. "It doesn't have the spectacle of the bigger monuments. But it's more than a pile of displaced earth; it's the physical incarnation of border culture. I think a lot of people, even those who live very close to it, don't know much about it. The upkeep and duty of care to Offa's Dyke is now of critical importance."

Hall showed the Guardian around a section in mid-Wales where a 25-metre-long strip was bulldozed by a landowner keen to extend a field. Police investigated but no action was taken because it could not be proved the man knew he was knocking down part of a scheduled monument. "It's so sad to see," said Hall as he pointed out the gap that can never be replaced.

...

[mongers]

I haven't been out and about to see it now, but based on when I did see it before (/my class got lost trying to see it), feels more appropriate for this thread vs. the Brexit one.

Thanks for that Garbon.

I Also managed to not see it or walk along a bit of it a couple of Saturdays ago when I was in Wales for the afternoon.

Instead I went to the Roman town of Caerleon and  stopped off at the Roman fort of Caerwent, which is an idyllic spot not far from Chepstow and Offa's dyke.

Also 'discovered' Caldicot castle, which was surprisingly complete.

[Malthus]

If you don't maintain Offa's dyke, you will let the Welsh just walk in! 

[crazy canuck]

Marc Morris has almost a full chapter on Offa's Dyke and why it was built.

Good stuff.

https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-anglo-saxons-a-history/9781643133126-item.html

[Tonitrus]

In a small tidbit from the local news...

Copper finds seal in village garden (about an hours drive from the coast)...

https://thelincolnite.co.uk/2021/07/you-look-lost-policeman-finds-stray-seal-in-lincolnshire-village-garden/

[Syt]

On Fridays my cleaning woman comes around, so I usually go out and chill somewhere or run errands during that time. I was chilling in a park today listening to podcasts when I noticed this ominous message:



Not sure what I should beware of, though.