British roads..pedestrian nightmare..navigators terror

As I have mentioned before,British roads are never straight. So it is easy to get lost. I have often said to myself where the @#$%& am I now. Luckily for google maps on my phone, otherwise I don’t know where I would be. Also there is no table mountain to use as a reference mark and it is often foggy not to mention the hedges that line the roads up to 2-3metres in height..its often like going through a maze.

Besides this, there are no or few road verges where you can just stop and look at your map, and the signs on the B roads are very small, especially if you are slightly blind like me. They also often just show the name of the next village rather than the largest one you might be heading for..and there are hundreds of little villages with the oddest names. Half of them are so small that they don’t even appear on a map. (Dean, theres a village called Dean). I even discovered that a woman who had lived in one largish village for 20 years did not know the name little village next door..some are literally 10 houses in size. So you never really know where you are.
Many roads are single lane and they say: give way for oncoming vehicles ( in both directions). Who is the oncoming vehicle if you are both oncoming? Luckily, Brits are so polite that both of you give way and sometimes you sit waiting for each other to go. if there are two lanes, usually the other lane is used for parking.

Back to the verges, there is also no place for pedestrians. Buildings are often right on the street. Often there is only one side that pedestrians can walk. Which would be fine, but then you suddenly discover that the pedestrian path is on the other side of the road and so you have to constantly cross backwards and forwards to keep to the pedestrian path. ( Until you find that there is no pedestrian path, which happens frequently and here you have to just walk in the road and pray.)

Luckily I come for SA where we drive on the left hand side of the road as in Britain, and so we tend to look left first. If you come from Europe, your life is at risk, because as you tend to look right then left, you may be fooled into thinking that the road is clear, but you are looking in the wrong direction.

Luckily, there are zebra crossings every now and then, and British drivers are good at stopping here, unlike south Africans(a warning is needed for tourists in SA to not step into the zebra crossing until the cars have actually stopped.) Here, in Britain, people step into the road before the cars have stopped because they are so confident that the cars will stop. As a driver, I have almost hit a few pedestrians.

Some towns close off whole streets for pedestrians, but then its a further bad dream for drivers to find open roads. This is a pedestrian street in Gloucester

DRIVING IN THE UK

There are few traffic lights in the UK but lots and lots of circles. This increases the traffic flow, which would be a total nightmare otherwise, it also slows the traffic from racing, but it confuses even more while following a map, and I often find myself traveling round and round the traffic circles trying to find the correct exit, that often has tiny handwriting. So I am squinting with my long distance glasses

Brits hoot very little, so roads are quiet, however, they are terrible tailgaters. I generally follow the speed limit because I do not want to pay a fine, and the speed limit changes with every village you go into. You cant travel very fast as a result as villages appear every 5 minutes. However, there are often 3 signs giving 3 different limits. I rather go for the lowest. However, I ALWAYS have someone on my tail. When I pull off and let them pass, it isn’t one minute before a new tailgater is there. This is much worse at night, where their lights blind you in the mirror. There are also very few opportunities to pass as the roads go up and down and round corners…so more haste doesn’t make less speed especially with me there trying to locate where I am.

But then just get on the motorways! Here they are 3-4 lanes, still with few verges. Here people race like kyalami, tail gating and cutting you off if you happen to go slowly in the wrong lane. I hate the motorways and prefer the small lanes that also go up and down a lot, especially in the Cotswolds, where I am living.

Roads connect every village to every village like a network of veins, and there are very few dead ends, so if you just keep going in the right direction (I have now bought myself a compass to help), you will end up in the right place as long as you notice of the road is slightly curving, which you sometimes don’t. In which case you get lost again.

PARKING
Parking is another nightmare. Every parking space that is not double yellow (Absolutely no parking) is either for the disabled or resident only or clamping threatened or Pay and display..30 minutes only. There are signs to parking lots..often miles away from the shops and centres that may allow a pay and display for a longer time. But you pay and pay. Usually at least R20 an hour minimal (1 pound)..more likely R40. Also you have to estimate how long you will be and pay when you park, which means you are constantly clock watching and cant take a leisurely walk through the towns. I am positive this is bad for business. Nailsworth is one of the few towns with free parking. Some cities you cannot drive into and have to park and take the bus. All old ladies wisely have these trolley things for their shopping..younger people just drag their bags because its not cool to have  trolley thing.

There are occasional parking garages where you can pay later when you leave, but they are few and they have so many designated parking bays (that are often empty) for disabled and now even families with push chairs. Parents use these, I notice,  to carry the shopping while the parent carries the child or lets them walk..a newly marrieds answer to the trolley without seeming like an old granny. There are few shopping centres, and where there are, you cannot push your shopping trolley outside the shop!
Frankly I am surprised that the British economy hasn’t stagnated more than it has. With roads and parking a greater priority..watch the turnover increase and the tills ring!
There are also LOTS of cars in the UK. Everyone is driving somewhere all the time. Coming from Cape Town where I hear the sea rushing at night, I was surprised to hear the sea rushing from 100km away from it, only to discover that it wasn’t the sea, but traffic right through the night, day in and day out. People seem to live far from their work. Just a short survey found that most people at Ruskin mill travel 30 minutes to an hour to get to work.
Buses are not that frequent and able to go to odd places, and are expensive for everyone who is not a pensioner. Trains are even more expensive and just dont go every where. Strangely luxury independent buses are cheaper than public transport systems. This is why people buy cars and travel mostly by road.

COSTS

Cars are extremely cheap here..even at the exchange rate of 20:1. But insurance is expensive..as much as the cost of the car and very difficult, as only a designated driver can drive..you pay more for each driver you allow. Also ALL cars have to be insured, taxed (4x as much as SA) and have an annual checkup (roadworthy certificate).
British drivers are very law abiding because any fines appear on your licence, which can be taken away and your insurance also goes up for each fine you get. Money talks. Drunk driving is a no-no. The problem is that a catch 22 situation arises where if you own the car, no one can ever drive you home after a binge or even 2 drinks max. because they are not insured to drive your car. So you have to take a taxi home and leave your car.

This is a car I bought, a toyota starlight..I liked the name, liked the price, but boy was it a hassle to insure.

TAXIS

Lets not talk about taxis, who charge whatever they want. Not like our wonderful taxi drivers who always charge the set rate no matter where you go. No wonder uber has a market.(although I took an uber taxi in London and paid through my nose..R300 to go 10 km.!) its just so unregulated to be every tourists nightmare.

ECO INTERESTING

 

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Nailsworth and Stroud, are called Fairtrade villages and most of their goods are local, fairtraded and organic even in the “normal” shops.Prices are also not more expensive than other commodities, and sometimes even cheaper. farmers markets exist in almost every town, and Stroud has one every Saturday that is one of the best I’ve seen. the cheeses are to die for and include a huge range.
Ruskin Mill are serious about using the best quality food at the college.They use organic and fairtraded food in everything. The students and everyone who works there get tea, and a cooked lunch with salad, fruit or pudding every day. Most of the food is grown on the farm biodynamically including the meat (lamb, pork,beef and fish). They have a smokery and make sausages and hams. They are  producers of organically produced trout that we have every Friday (Fish and chips). We also press our own apple juice.

Two months into my volunteering (I cant believe it has gone so fast) I am feeling fit and full of energy. The food is also very tasty, and it is wonderful to have a hot meal in the middle of the day. Some of the students have eating issues and I am positive that the nutrition has an enormous healing effect. (some students dont like the food and bring their own..poor things). They also cater for allergies.

Even at teatime with the students, they use organic tea and coffee, biscuits and oatcakes with organic butter and jam. They don’t stint on this. All food is sourced from the organic shop that is open to the public and “Bought” by the different units at Ruskin Mill, while products produced are “sold” to the shop and each other. Bread from the bakery is made with organic flour from Shipton Mill and is “sold” to the Canteen and a café open to the public. (These public spaces are used for work experience for the students, where they learn to buy and sell.)

All their cleaning products are environment friendly. Even their so-called sterilisers are simple substances that leave no residue. (Like iodine)

They have a set of compost toilets, but the students avoid these and would rather walk far to find a flushing loo. I tried out the compost loo, which is quite comfortable, its just that its not nice to look down, even though everything gets covered in sand. Its also dark inside.
Electricity is generated by solar panels on as many buildings as can catch the light and also a wind generator pumps electricity back into the electricity grid. In Stroud area, you can connect to Ecotricity, where the electricity you pay for  comes from natural sources. This means that even although you may not produce all your electricity naturally, someone is doing so.

An interesting reflection of Africa came up unexpectantly, when one of the students produced a can of what looked like coke, but it was something called UBUNTU cola. Made of herbs, a fairtraded fizzy drink, that put money back into developing nations.

A very effective Refugee Campaign

The students at Ruskin Mill have a student council that takes on various responsibilities at the college. They are aged 16-19. Last week they launched, what I thought, was a very effective campaign to highlight the plight of refugees and Britain’s stance on them, (which has been very slow and reluctant). The campaign actually started about a month ago, just advertising the showing of the film, Paddington Bear, a much loved childhood icon in British Society, with the main purpose to raise funds for Refugees. Everyone just assumed it was something for entertainment, and posters were put up advertising it.

However, on the night it was to be shown, which was the night before guy Fawkes, some pamphlets were placed on the tables and posters stuck up on the walls at lunchtime, with this story of Paddington bear , together with other posters highlighting the refugee crisis in Europe.

My photos are not very good, as they were taken in haste and dark surroundings and through glass, (and probably a couple of greasy fingers on my lense) but you can get the drift. Well for me it certainly changed the way I saw Paddington Bear and refugees.It started everyone talking about Britains stance on refugees, which at the moment nobody talks about, and it is avoided in the news.

The surprise , and the contradictory elements of using what is essentially a child’s story close to many British hearts, was very effective.  On the night of the show, they handed out Paddington bear masks and served marmalade sandwiches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To keep the memory, there is a child’s stuffed Paddington bear that looks forlornly out of the canteen window, as if reminding you daily of his plight and those of the refugees.   

CAROL AND COWS

CAROL AND COWS

I love cows, having been a cheese maker. I was also brought up on a small holding with 4 cows, named petunia, buttercup, bluebell and protea and also having had two of my own beautiful jersey heifers, I thought that I was fine with cows. So I was asked to spread out the straw in the cow barn. “Oh I’m not scared of cows” she said when warned to be careful. Well I hoisted myself enthusiastically over the gate into the pen. One heifer, with nice sharp horns looked me in the eye and  came directly towards me, head down. Well, I suddenly didn’t feel so certain, and turned to get out of her way.Except that the gate was closed behind me. I tried to get my legs out of the way, as that is where she was aiming, flipped back over the gate, despite my age, and ended up UPSIDE DOWN with my legs in the air, and couldn’t get back over..I wasnt that flexible. Well, Luisa, my co-volunteer just watched in horror and collapsed laughing, while I still had my legs in the air. I garbled to her to help get my legs down. Eventually, when she could get her breath, she helped me back down, and we both laughed, me with relief.

My sister then reminded me that one of our childhood cows, Petunia, was very scary, and would have no compunctions about tossing us. I have since reviewed my relationship with cows. I found out later that they were a bit skittish as they are on heat, but I am not going to test that theory again.

Anyway, here we are herding the famous Gloucester cows that produce the milk for the utterly divine double Gloucester cheese. They are a vanishing breed. Only 600 in the world. The farm does not milk them, and only uses them for meat. A great pity, I would say. What distinguishes them is the white back, rump and tail.

In Search of the Romans in Britain

People are not generally aware that the Romans ruled Britain for close on 400 years, from just after the birth of Christ to 400 AD. Much of this history, for some reason, is not really spoken of here in the same way as Britains colonial history is not spoken of (especially in the light of closing borders to migrants.) I have yet to discover why the Romans receive short shrift. One reason given to me is that Britain has so much history to preserve, and spend a lot on preserving castles and manor houses, the resources have to be spread out, but I still wonder why more is not put into Roman artifacts.

Britain is a Roman name.  Roman civilization can still be seen in the British outlook, engineering, law, language, mathematics, money, religion, and writing. (This is shared with all the other countries which were once part of the empire.) perhaps the greatest effect is in outlook.?

Before this,  Britain was a disparate set of peoples with no sense of national persona but took after that of their localized tribe. Iron age Brits lived in these kind of houses!

This is a Replica Iron Age British round house from Butser Ancient Farm (Hampshire). Photo Simon I. Hill, Butser Ancient Farm. Look like any thing you know?!

And so I went in search of Romans (not Romance, unfortunately) in Britain..well at least in the Cotswolds..

Rome can be said to have colonised Britain,( itsself the great world coloniser)! is   this a similarity in outlook? Romans tried to influence the beliefs of Britons, outlawing Druidic practice, which constituted the main religion in Britain at the time similar to the attempts of nineteenth century British colonialists in Africa, who tried to Christianise Africa (explaining their supposed main motivations were bringing Christianity to the non-Christian natives there.) the main purpose, however, was control of a disparate population. to that effect, many neolithic sites were removed. (see my previous post)

The Roman influence on British history is not acknowledged as well as the Later histories of Britain, and you can see this by the way that Roman artifacts are treated. (They are covered over by grass, supposedly to protect them!) I was shocked to hear that after uncovering an intricate mosaic of a Roman villa, it was covered up again with sand and grass. Minchinhampton common, where I live,  is another example. It is riddled with Roman artifacts, but is covered in grass, used as a golf course, and
where all the local cows graze.

 

 

Here is
is Roman trench peopled by golfers.

This is the Amphitheatre in Cirencester
that I went past three times before I realised what it was.

 

 

This is a drawing of what it used to look like. It was uncovered and then covered up again.
                                                   This is a Mump (halfway between a mound and a hump that was built by the Romans near Glastonbury, with a Christian church on top.

The reality is that despite the fact that the Romans made up only a small proportion (5-10 percent) of the population ,  their physical and cultural influence was enormous.

The Romans were an urban people, and they created scores of towns and cities. Among these were London (Londinus), York, and Bath. Others were Gloucester, Cirencester, Chester, Colchester, and all the other towns with caster or chester in them (castra was Latin word for camp).

Wealthy Romans also built large country houses called villas, many decorated with beautiful mosaic floors and central underfloor heating and indoor toilets and plumbing , things Britain forgot about until the 19th century. The Romans also built a network of paved roads across Britain. Although they were badly neglected after the Anglo-Saxon invasions, they remained the best roads in England even today.

So I found what is called the Fosse road that stretches from Exeter to Leicester. Roman roads are STRAIGHT, while the rest of Britain goes round in circles, and the road have lasted because they cleverly dug trenches one metre on either side to drain the roads. (Most roads in Britain are narrow, have no verges and often no pavements..but that is another story). I decided to go along the Fosse road to Stratford on Avon to visit the home of William Shakespeare (another Roman? Shaca Speari)

On the way, I found a sign to a Roman Villa. Not believing that anything was there, I followed a long winding road and finally came across it.

I was impressed to see that it was well preserved (well no roof but only walls and one area had an entire air conditioned building over it to protect the mosaics) and was amazed at the Roman technology. (It cost about R180 to get in to see, though! (9 pounds x20 .

 

 

This is what it would have looked like. But its just low walls mostly

Bathing was a big factor, and here are some of the hot and cold baths that take up much of the villa, and apparently much of their days.

Food is another important factor. This is the dining area, showing elaborate mosaics and underfloor heating..those are channels under the floor. Fires were lit outside and channelled in. Pilae were little pillars that held up the floor while allowing heat to go under them.

 

 

 

This is where the fire is made outside.

 

 

 

 

Uncovering the floors with a fine tooth comb.

 

 

 

This is a sacred spring where the water still comes from.

The list of vegetables introduced to Britain by the romans includes garlic, onions, shallots, leeks, cabbages, peas, celery, turnips, radishes, and asparagus. (The leeks’ importance as a part of the staple diet of the British population is illustrated by the fact that national emblem of Wales is a leek! Amongst the many herbs that they introduced to Britain were rosemary, thyme, bay, basil and savoury mint. They also introduced herbs that were used in brewing and for medicinal purposes.

The Romans also brought new farming practices and crops. They introduced more productive grains and bread became a more important part of the British diet. Believe me, it is a very important part of the British diet..I have never eaten so much bread as here.

Walnuts and sweet chestnuts were another Roman introduction. They also introduced a wider variety of fruit that was brought into cultivation rather than growing wild. This included apples (as opposed to crab apples..these are small..but I must say delicious fruit..but you cant eat too many as they are very sharp), grapes, mulberries and cherries. Apples are the staple fruit in Britain. there are so many apples that people leave them at the side of the road in boxes.  here is some apple jelly I made from apple peels left over from a night of making preserves..apple chutney, apple curd, apple apple.

The Romans introduced new breeds of farm animals, such as the prized white cattle. Archaeological evidence suggests that guinea fowl, chickens and rabbits were probably introduced as farmyard animals.  The Romans also brought new species of game into Britain including the brown hare and pheasants. Maybe thats why pheasant hunting is a sport here.

Samian bowls, which were popular at the Romano-British dining table, often depicted scenes of dogs hunting hare or deer..a treasured British pastime. I wonder what was indigenous, and if anyone remembers or cares? Which set me wondering who are the real indigenous Britons? Do they exist, and what is really British?

Searching for the Devils churchyard

It started with a discussion about Roman and neolithic sites, when Matthias,  tutor on the farm brought out  host of hand drawn maps of the Nailsworth-Stroud area which showed the layers of History in the area. one was of the original hunter-gatherer land showing all the natural formations, overlaying that was some neolithic and roman sites, overlaying that was the saxon and Norman buildings and over that was the Industrial sites showing all the mills in the area..about fifty!.

What interested me the most, however, was the roman and neolithic sites. besides the Roman roads, one being the Fosse way that I travelled along and will tell you about in my next blog, where I visited a Roman villa.

What struck me was the host of neolithic and Roman artifacts just near where I live in Minchinhampton. It also noted that there were standing stones at a place evocatively called ‘the Devils churchyard”. 

I read up on some Minchinhampton history, and found that several attempts to build a church there, on the site of a stone circle, enabling Christianity to gain a stronger hold among the heathens of the neighbourhood, foundered when the project was continually vandalised. Some said it was the devil’s work as the site chosen for this new structure was an ancient site of Pagan worship, and, legend has it, all work that was accomplished during the day was at night torn down, supposedly by the devil. Eventually the work was abandoned, and the new church was constructed on its present site in Minchinhampton itself. Later, a clergyman ordered destruction of the stone circle, and the locality gained a reputation for evil. A ghostly rider sometimes put the wind up passers-by, and a grim spectre was seen following people in the lanes. On one occasion an old man made his way along the track that led across the area, a faint sound of tinkling bells reached him across the fields to the south. He stood and listened. The noise grew louder. Then quite suddenly from over the hedgerow leapt a horse and rider. The bells jangled loudly as the horse landed after its unnaturally high jump. The man’s blood froze as he saw the rider; a black-robed, ghostly figure, an ethereal corner of the rider’s garment flicking at the man’s face as the pair galloped off up the valley and disappeared into the darkness. 

It was the Sunday after halloween when I went searching by foot, on the other side of a little place called Crackstone. The track was full of slippery mud, and both sides were covered in stinging nettle, blackthorn and hemlock. There was sense that people were not welcome, and the only way you could get there was by horseback. Anyway, I had walked a long way, and was not going to turn back. Eventually I found the abandoned churchyard, covered in trees, nettle and fox holes. the fox holes uncovered partially covered walls, and it had an eery feeling with a strange high humming through the trees. I spend some time just feeling the place and looking for evidence of the church. All that was left of a church was some low bumps in a squarish shape, and of course surrounded by old dry walls covered in moss. The stone circle had been removed, and it is believed that they have been used in various places and lost their identity.

However, two standing stones remain in the area , and they even have a more bizarre reputation. They were a length away from this site. More walking. Here are to be found some of the best-known standing stones in Glouchestershire – the Long Stone and the Tingle Stone.  The tingle stone was on the Princess Royals land at Gatcombe Park. So the local police keep a watch out for strangers. I just walked in, but couldnt find it, and was a little scared as I heard barking dogs.. It has long been thought to be charged with electricity.  It is thought to be the remains of a portal dolmen Or marking stone,  connected with a long barrow.

A long barrow was the last phase in a complex sequence connected with the ritual burial of the dead that took place in British society between around 4000 and 2400 BC. Many long barrow sites started off as small rectangular enclosures of earth banks topped by  timber walls, enclosing a kind of mortuary. Within this was built a wooden room-sized mortuary chamber with large supporting posts. Sometimes a grand timber entrance was also built along with an an entrance of wooden posts. Human remains were placed in this chamber, sometimes all at once and sometimes over a period of time. Often the bones found in them are in bits and pieces, implying that the bodies were subjected to exposure prior to burial or that they were buried elsewhere and exhumed for the purposes of placing in the barrow. Rarely are whole skeletons found and it seems that only long bones and skulls survived until the final internment.

Up to fifty separate individuals were placed in each enclosure, males, females and children. Chambers were then surrounded and covered by large stones or were set alight. Only after these procedures was the earth barrow constructed over the top of the dead, making a mound.

The long stone stands on its own without a barrow mound and is a little bit away and more easily accessible. Local legend has it that, when church bells strike at midnight, the Tingle Stone and the Long Stone run around their fields. They are also said to go to Minchinhampton to drink from a spring there.

The Long Stone, a rough lozenge shape is 7 ½ ft high above the ground, and is said to be as much below the surface. Is famous for the two large holes in it, which, although created by natural weathering, have given rise to various folk tales. The stone was thought to have healing properties. People would pass their limbs through the holes for cures, and mothers would put their children through to keep them healthy. Within living memory, children with whooping-cough and rickets used to be put through one of the holes in the stone. (the holes were not that big, so only a very small  baby would get through there! )

It may also have been associated with fertility rites, as couples would hold hands through the stone and pledge themselves to one another.  Traditions of bloodshed also cling round the Longstone; some say that it marks the burial place of a Danish chief killed in a battle at “Woeful Danes’ Bottom”, about half a mile distant, where “the blood ran as high as the wheels of a cart”, and the victory was won by women who gave the Danes poisoned pancakes to eat, and all the bumps or “tumps” in the neighbourhood are held to be “the soldiers’ graves”.

It’s also been said that a phantom black dog has been seen in the stone’s vicinity, carters had to blindfold their horses when they passed along the road in which the main gates to the Gatcombe estate lie. Reputed by witnesses who have seen it on a number of occasions, to be headless and nearly the size of a Labrador, it is said to move fast and silently, then brush up against you, with a pungent aroma of damp fur. Perhaps that was what was barking, keeping me away.

I found the long stone, and I must say it was reminiscent of good old cape town sandstone, with its characteristic weathering. Do you think it came that far? Who knows? I put my injured hand through the holes to get it healed.

After this, I walked back along Minchinhampton common, and became more conscious of the bumps and tumps and realised there were many remains of past civilisations over which grew grass and made the best free golf course. I am not sure how many people realised what they were stepping over. Here are a few furrows and hollows and barrows? They are certainly not Natural formations.

I have asked why Minchinhampton common has never been excavated. One answer, was that the earth protects the artifacts. I must say that I cant relate to this. however, I read a statistic that farming in the last 60 years has destroyed more artifacts than the last 6 thousand years. I can believe that, as the fields are farmed extensively using bulldozers, tractors and ploughs. Thus, the fact that the common is only used for grazing EVERYBODY’S cows and a golf course, place to walk the dogs and ride horses is protecting it. Maybe one day it will be excavated. Below are some Sunday golfers

These are not standing stones, but wooden posts that protect the green!

Below is a long furrow possibly used for water in roman times?Every house has a cattle grid as the cows are allowed free reign. They are good at damaging property, and damaged my side mirror when they came herding down the hill past my house!