Number 7 The Crescent ...

Two boys leapt from the breakwater into the twilight sea - 

Silent fishermen cast their lines -

There was a half moon in the flawless sky - 

Earlier there'd been rain - 

Now the yards and rooftops glistened like newly washed bone - 

It was easy to imagine a shadow climbing a narrow stair - 

A pen was moving across paper, a story unfolded like a dark red flower - 

21.34

Sunday 30 July 2017

Whitby

Yorkshire 

Karaoke in The Brown Cow ...

Last night I slept under kindly slates in Hinderwell - 

There was a raffle in The Brown Cow followed by Keith's Karaoke - 

I ordered a pint of Blonde - 

I was conscious of my townie shoes - 

The Karaoke started - 

Unshaven young men sang love songs -  

Glasses of Black Sheep were carried to boozy tables - 

Lean grandfathers remembered golden summers - 

21.39

Saturday 29 July 2017

Hinderwell 

Yorkshire

Leaving Saltburn ...

We walked high above the reach of the herring gulls - 

Ribbons were tied to a hawthorn bush - 

Far below us a white yacht's sails caught the fleeting sunlight -  

A bare legged woman ran through the fields of ripening wheat - 

Swallows went before us along our cliff top path - 

Above us was the boundless changing sky - 

Behind us were the Victorian pier, the bandstand in the Italian Gardens - 

10.00

Saturday 29 July 2017

Saltburn

Yorkshire 

L

Guisborough ...

Rain falls upon the high steet of the ancient town - 

Wiry northerners sip tea over full Yorkshires -

You alright? asks the girl behind the counter - 

The ruined arch of the Priory frames dark clouds - 

Rain is followed by sunshine - 

Mourners are leaving the church - 

We heard the bell tolling across the fields - 

Soon we'll set off for Saltburn By The Sea - 

We'll climb over stiles whilst looking at the sky - 

We'll listen out for seabirds - 

We'll feel the sea wind in our hair - 

10.50

Friday 28 July 2017

Guisborough

Yorkshire 

There were still lapwings above the heather ...

The wind took news from the sea to the high hill - 

We climbed its steps skywards - 

I thought of the captain, home from the tropic ocean - 

Perhaps on the dazzling beach he'd thought of these brown moors - 

He remembered the quiet farm, the village school - 

Standing on the hilltop we could touch the clouds - 

There were still ships to follow upon the waves, lapwings above the heather -

11.29

Thursday 27 July 2017

Rosemary Topping

Yorkshire 

A second coat ...

We walked through the white silence of the clouds -   

The warm village was a world now invisible - 

Rain began to sting our faces - 

We passed one by one along the high path - 

We wore the wind like a second coat -

11.41

Wednesday 26 July 2017

 

Ingleby Moor 

Yorkshire

Pilgrims for a while ...

I placed a stone upon the cairn - 

Each stone marked a passage across the moor - 

I remembered the dark river we'd crossed, the winding path upwards through the trees - 

Wind stirred the heather -  

Peregrines sought tender prey - 

I thought of all those who had passed this way, pilgrims for a while, unaware of their journey's end - 

13.20

Tuesday 25 July 2017

Carlton Moor

Yorkshire 

At High Paradise Farm ...

We took refuge from the rain in High Paradise Farm - 

We'd left The Forresters after a full Yorkshire - 

I'd read the front page of The Yorkshire Post in the silent lounge - 

At High Barn, swallows flew knee high above the rainswept grass - 

Clouds filled the northern sky - 

We walked high above the chilled fields and woods - 

Raindrops numbed our fingers - 

Now in the warm room we drank coffee from a cafetière - 

A small dog watched us from a leather armchair -  

A tall young woman had welcomed us - 

Both rain and sunshine had blessed her house - 

13.00

Monday 24 July 2017

High Paradise Farm

Boltby

Yorkshire

In the parlour ...

We're staying the night in the The Forresters Arms - 

My room is reached by a mazey passage -

Dripping walkers are arriving -

I can hear farmers carousing in the bar - 

Their land rovers glisten in the rain - 

I'm sitting in the parlour - 

Later I'll listen to dominos slapped down upon a boozy table - 

I'll sip a Dalwhinnie after steak and ale pie - 

18.33

Sunday 23 July 2017

Forresters Arms 

Kilburn

Yorkshire 

Once part of heaven had touched the earth ...

This afternoon we walked from Helmsley to Rievaulx Abbey - 

Our path took us past woods of pine then beech -

Three rooks flew above a ripening wheat field - 

Penelope taught me the names of the wildflowers we saw - 

That's Rosebay Willowherb she said - that's Herb Robert - 

We crossed a high arched stone bridge over a clear river - 

The abbey lay in a deep valley, under the ancient sky - 

Dorothy Wordsworth had once come here - 

William had hurried her away - 

Standing in the roofless nave, we were aware of what the poet's sister had seen and felt - 

Once part of heaven had touched the earth - 

14.01

Saturday 22 July 2017

Rievaulx Abbey

Yorkshire 

Waiting for the X31 ...

We're waiting for the X31 to Helmsley -

They're devils to stop we're told - 

Delicate Chinese girls gather beneath the bus shelter -

Yesterday we visited the Minster - 

 

Soaring marble rose up from shadow - 

We lingered in the Chapter House - 

When I read the names of the Prebendary Canons, I thought of stories by M R James - 

What if there was a high wind in February I wondered - 

9.23

Saturday 22 July 2017

York

Each day will bring new stories ...

I've packed my grip ready for tomorrow's journey - 

I'll wear a collarless shirt under the northern skies - 

I'll wrap a yellow scarf around my neck - 

I'll walk with my companions over windswept moorland - 

We'll cross the borders of ancient kingdoms - 

We'll hear the dangerous sea beneath our feet - 

We'll remember the past journeys we've made together - 

Each day will bring new stories, memories to hoard like new minted coins - 

20.17

Thursday 20 July 2017

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset 

The raindrops fell like jewels ...

Last night rain fell upon the withered lawn - 

Sheet lightning flickered above Nine Barrows Down - 

We lay in the wide warm bed - 

Anne counted the seconds before the thunder - 

The raindrops fell like jewels from the starless sky - 

23.45

Tuesday 18 July 2017

The Old School House

East Stoke 

Dorset 

Lost domains ...

I've started reading Le Grand Meaulnes - 

I first opened these yellowed pages forty one years ago - 

They still have the fragrance of that boozy magical summer - 

Yet I never did more than skim through the slender chapters - 

There was too much to see, too many evenings when I was beguiled - 

So many years, I think, each one a torn cobweb of memory - 

I think of my own lost domains - 

I remember the trees I climbed as a weightless boy, my leafy kingdoms filled with green sunlight - 

I remember the starry skies of warm nights, when I walked with bold companions past sleeping houses - 

I remember dancing to languid music with my eyes closed - 

I remember driving a blue car without lights down midnight roads - 

I remember listening to soft laughter in darkened rooms - 

I remember looking up at the moon whilst swimming in a marble pool - 

I remember kicking aside fallen leaves in Autumn streets - 

Each one had written on it some remembrance, some clue to what I'd lose - 

20.50

Tuesday 18 July 2017

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset 

Remembering Tolpuddle ...

I'm sitting in the room we now call the library - 

The warm wind stirs the pale curtains - 

There are apples forming on the branches of the tree - 

I think of the long weekend at Tolpuddle -

I'd walked with young firebrands - 

I'd marvelled at the length of beards - 

I'd coveted a tee shirt that read Marxism.com - 

I'd sat on the warm grass listening to prophets - 

Here, amongst the camper vans, one bright thought joined mind to mind - 

For the many, not the few - 

17.52

Monday 17 July 2017

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset 

Tolpuddle Sunday ...

I said no to an offer of Jeremy Korma in Henry Beard's - 

I listened to a man in a tail coat lampooning The Daily Mail - 

I'd searched in vain for a red wedge tee shirt which wasn't XXL -  

Grizzled  comrades sipped their first cider - 

Sturdy girls asked us if we had wrist bands - 

Tent dwellers were queuing for the showers - 

Last night there'd been dancing in the Martyrs Marquee -

We held our banner close - 

Later we'd march through the village - 

Brave trombones would promise a glorious morning -  

We'd hear words we longed for - 

We'd be part of something fine and true - 

12.30

Sunday 16 July 2017

Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival

Dorset 

The sound track of my life ...

I'm listening to a fervent song - 

The singer shakes his hair - 

Banners catch the wind -  

A boy's wearing a tee shirt saying I can hear you Clem Fandango - 

Falafels are eaten in louche camper vans - 

I can smell Ferring Gold - 

Joe's taken off his sunglasses - 

I'm a bit Radio 2 Varnsey tells Anne - 

It's the sound track of my life -  

The Red Notes are singing now - 

Keep standing with Jeremy Corbyn - 

For the many not the few - 

 

15.00

Saturday 15 July 2017

Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival 

Dorset 

Another England ...

We're lolling upon the comradely grass at Tolpuddle - 

A man's wearing a tee shirt which says more blacks more dogs more Irish - 

If we sit outside the beer tent we're bound to see Varnsey Anne says - 

A slim woman behind us is shaping a bamboo flute - 

In the Henry Beard tent, there's a blackboard saying veggie Jeremy Corbyn from 5 pm - 

A storyteller's wearing a kilt - 

I can hear guitars - 

The band's on stage in the Martyrs Marquee - 

We've just seen a film in a vintage mobile cinema - 

We're wearing yellow wristbands - 

Here, for a long weekend, there's another England - 

17.26 

Friday 14 July 2017

Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival

Dorset 

When I listen to Tchaikovsky's Barcarolle ...

Paul's gone over to The Times - 

There are always copies of Practical Caravan and Carp World for his clients to read - 

But today there's a copy of The Times on the counter - 

Paul's cutting a gaffer's rug with his murderous scissors - 

The radio's singing One moment in time - 

You know what I mean - 

I wouldn't put money on it - 

Paul's laughing, his knowing rasping laugh - 

I remember the film I saw at The Rex last night - 

Now, whenever I hear Tchaikovsky's Barcarolle my eyes will brim with tears - 

Paul's calling me over to the chair - 

Its 10.56 - 

What ever I tell him, Paul cuts my hair just the same - 

10.56

Thursday 13 July 2017 

Paul's 

South Street

Wareham

 

The wisdom of women ...

Anne's making a curry - 

She's slicing red peppers with a clever knife -

Laurie Taylor's on Radio 4 talking about hair - 

I'm reading Tram 83 - 

Reading it is like listening to wild spooky jazz - 

Anne's now slicing sticks of celery - 

Moles are delving under the apple tree - 

Eels sleep in the river's deep pools - 

A blackbird sashays across the lawn - 

Anne's calm hands shape the curry - 

I think of the wisdom of women - 

I try to imagine their secret histories - 

17.34

Wednesday 12 July 2017

The Old School House

East Stoke

Dorset

Visiting the hidden garden ...

Penelope led me though the narrow door into the hidden garden - 

A high wall enclosed the quiet lawns - 

A pool reflected the leaves of overhanging trees -  

Water lilies were gentle crowns - 

High hedges bordered gravelled paths - 

Mysterious shubberies glistened with last night's raindrops -

White roses bloomed in silent arbours - 

A fast flowing stream ran through the dripping greenery - 

Beyond the garden were the wide river and the gracious house - 

Lichened sundials had hoarded golden hours - 

13.00

Tuesday 11 July 2017

Moreton

Dorset 

The sun gave way to the moon ...

Our swimming costumes are drying on the sand - 

Small waves wash clean razor shells - 

Five fir trees hold up the summer sky - 

Two oyster catchers fly low over the shallow water - 

Dads craft sandcastles for their children - 

A Hobie Cat with an orange sail waits for fearless boys - 

Ocean serves home made lemonade - 

Long legged girls chase family labradors - 

Sea gulls follow a schooner beyond the white headland - 

Beach huts are reached by tide worn stairs - 

Shadows lengthen - 

Above the green world the sun gave way to the moon - 

17.00

Monday 19 July 2017

South Beach

Studland 

Dorset 

Blue remembered hills ...

My dad had just finished eating - 

He leaned over to pick up a fallen pea - 

The words of a poem learned in Town Street came back to him - 

Blue remembered hills he said - 

The happy highways where I went - 

And cannot come again - 

On the sideboard was a photograph of my brother and his wife - 

My mum delved into her handbag - 

She was convinced that she owed Anne money - 

ITV3 waited for the evening -

The blinds were drawn against the sun -

3.07

Sunday 9 July 2017

Staunton Road

Havant

Hampshire