Pensford Memories
'Culvery' by Tim Veater
Down dusty track of memory I strolled,
Enveloped by the ancient wood and years,
A fallen Oak, felled by the wind, its age revealed,
Where severed by a no-doubt noisy saw.
To right steep bank of Hornbeam, Ash and Beech,
Escarpment-saved from plough and sheep,
Survival from a pre-historic past,
Gazed on by mediaeval serfs entranced.
To left, the somnambulant stream,
Pursues its silent course, almost imperceptibly it flows
From distant limestone hills to far off sea,
Undisturbed by dancing gnats or flitting birds.
Overhung with Alder, its banks the home of Voles,
It timelessly meanders, mile after mile,
Its dark mysterious purpose, here on this bend,
In private view, I gaze upon, exposed.
At the gate, under the dark canopy of leaves,
The sun-lit meadow is revealed, stretching away.
Buttery yellow from its carpet of Celandines,
Sun-kissed Buttercups and white laced Cow Parsley.
Awaiting the rasp of tongue and swish of tail
That only contented cows and avian choir provide,
To complete this bucolic scene,
Which just for a still moment, I imbibe.
Artistic eyes, poetic seam, that here finds verse,
Mesmerically I recall the dream,
An act of drama sixty-six years afore
The world with all its horrors intervened.
The summer day Steve Perry called and asked me out,
And here we rolled about the clay,
Enacting adult worlds of life and death,
Quite unaware that this would be,
The last time we would play.
Walking in Pensford Village, a designated Conservation Area in England, 4K HDR by
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw3WFe2Xd94
Tribute to Acker bilk, publow, North Somerset, uk by
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ir4NWRpAUw
Acker Bilk - World Famous Musician - Famous Graves by 'Unusual Things'
Pensford part 1
Pensford part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax5snvh0F40
Re. Sewage Pollution
I agree. It's part of the much longer and wider issue of 'polluting' humans generally, which is always proportional to the number of us and the way we act and manage the issue. It is a product of industrialisation and social progress, made both better and worse by politically, the way we chose to deal with it. The moment humans chose to dispose of human waste in drains with water, it solved one problem but created another, in that all conduits eventually end up in rivers or seas, just as all roads lead to Rome. As soon as humans thought it necessary to have water on tap, bath every night and use gallons in washing machinery, it created both supply and disposal issues with a huge effect on the environment, namely reservoirs and sewage works. Every time we build a new house to solve one problem - unmet demand - it creates many more. The same applies to the political solutions: From the 'eighties' in particular, government hit upon 'privatisation' - transferring public responsibilities to private entities - as the magical solution to every problem - but we can now see its pitfalls and limitations. It runs on debt and the need to reward the capitalist funder. So instead of investment, dividends and ultimately pollution - whenever it rains heavily and even, in some cases, when it doesn't. If there are no dividends, the share price plummets and the company becomes insolvent, so increased charges to fill the gap. If the income stream dries up (forgive the pun) the company goes bust and the government is forced to pick up the pieces, proving it wasn't such a good idea after all. In summation this is why the prospective Crime Commissioner's little diatribe was so naive and irrelevant!
