Nature's diary - July

[Tinkerbell]

The potential good weather and longer days, are probably the most significant aspects of July memories in some respects. With school holidays approaching, our summer didn't really start until the end of term anyway - unlike today, when with dull rainy days in May and June we think we've had a poor summer by the beginning of July! St Swithin's day was anticipated with trepidation - we knew that if it rained on the 15th July, it would rain every day for forty more.

But, if it was fair, sunshine would be the order of the day, almost until we returned to school in September, enabling the 'gang' to congregate. One popular activity was to fetch out the long rope (one child at either end) for skipping games e.g. All in together girls, never mind the weather girls, when it is your birthday please jump in, and others, which went on for hours; picnics of basic bread and jam and a bottle of water might be packed, to be enjoyed at the end of another of our walks, this time to see where the best blackberries might be growing, for collection in August. Big kids and small, all had a shot at French cricket or rounders up the rec. If boredom really set in, there was the secret garden - an overgrown derelict plot teeming with birds, which was also full of flowers to pick and take home to Mum.

Every hour of daylight was utilised to its maximum potential for outdoor activity. And, if you were very lucky, you might just be off on holiday soon!

[Tinkerbell]

One such memorable break was to visit my grandparents, on the edge of Savernack Forest in a little village named Burbage. They lived in an old thatched cottage and water was taken from a well (and whatever fell from the heavens into the water butt). This particular memory has got me thinking about how much we take water, on tap, for granted these days. The well water was wound up, and then taken into the pantry where it was kept in crocks and, of course, was treated with the respect it deserved - never a drop being wasted. Toilet facilities were equally Heath-Robinson, being a shed in the nearby copse, with a wooden seat and bucket beneath - no doubt the waste being recycled even then. I well remember sitting in that little cubicle, listening to all the woodland noises going on round about - cooing of pigeons being the most striking, but leaves rustling with the activity of squirrels etc. adding to the nerve-racking experience!

As you lay in the traditional feather bed, mice could be heard up in the thatch and if you were lucky, housemartins would be nesting under the eaves near your window. I can still 'smell' the mash Grandad made for the chickens, and haymaking was a great time for all locally to become involved, with me riding home on a big carthorse. Self-sufficiency reigned; no doubt times were hard occasionally, but folk appeared generally happy with their lot.

[Tinkerbell]

Then there was the time we camped in the garden at Elgin Tower in Minehead where our relatives Jim, Dot and John had a bird 'hospital' in part of the outside basement. A great utilisation of space, local folk knew to bring injured birds to Jim and he would do his best to restore them to health. The extended garden was very large and sloped, and on one occasion Jim produced a basketful of snakes he had gathered that morning, for us to see. Then they were released back into the 'wild' - I think these creatures must be as shy as we are led to believe, as they never intruded into our camping space. It certainly was a great way of observing nature at close quarters, with a great 'teacher' who knew their habits and habitats. Among Jim's other finds was a large lump of ambergris (used in the manufacture of fine perfumes), which he found on the beach and which is excreted from the sperm whale - most of us would have seen it as flotsam. Add to this the telescope for watching the sea, ships and stars - it was an adventurous place to visit.

[Pat]

A truly wonderful life Tinkerbell, even with all the hardships I could stil see me living like that, when I read the story the hairs stood up on the back of my neck picturing myself in that little thatched cottage!!!!