Breaking free of my robot self
Today, inspired by Julian Cope's Syd Arthur Festival, I decided to go somewhere I'd never been to before to see a new vista and experience something different.
I'm in the unusual situation of having time which is not spoken for as the children are with their grandparents for a few days and hubby was at work, so I grasped the opportunity.
Having completed the morning's committments, I began the journey using Megalithic Portal's satnav add on, which guides you to as close to various site co-ordinates as the road can go, and set off for a new place. After a false start with a hillfort which took me to a dead end in a housing estate and no visible means of accessing it, ( I don't really get excited about hill forts) I headed for a sacred pool in Somerset.
Our idiosyncratic satnav once again favoured the tiny roads and I ended up in a cul de sac at the end of some houses, but at least this one had a footpath leading from it, into
a field full of cows.
They look quite far away there, don't they?
They saw me and decided that I was interesting so they all came towards me. I like cows, but there were a lot of them and I admit, I did retreat to the edge of the footpath in a cowardly way. The satnav lost the signal. The trip was looking doubtful...but Julian spurred me on! I took a deep breath and recalled that the pool was in a wood. I could see a wood in the distance, I would not be beaten by a lot of cow pats and curious mammals, the water called me.
On the other side of the wheatfield is a steeply climbing wood.
To get to the field I negotiated a gate and a very muddy stream, climbing over two thistley sytles and getting nettled on the way, adventurers need adveristy, or they do not appreciate the journey, do they?
At the top of the steep wood was a map, showing that the pool was at the bottom, but much further to the left than I'd gone. Woohoo! I can read maps, I didn't need the satnav anymore and it actually existed. My spirits rose and my sense of achievement began to build, I would find the place, by my own skills.
Accompanied by the calls of birds, I saw no humans in the woods, there was a sculpture trail which provided a green man, which made me smile, but the peace was gratefully received.
After some considerable time walking, I saw something sparkle at the bottom of the hill and there it was, The Whirley Pool
I was so excited by the beautifully clear, bubbling water I accidentally went for a paddle and had very wet shoes and muddy legs for the return of the journey, but it was fantastic.
Surrounded by elder trees, it used to send up jets of water apparently, but now bubbles in the most delightful way.
I sat for a long time after my squelchy bath, enjoying the bubbly noises whilst thinking about the mesolithic people and what it meant to them. To me it meant peace and wellbeing and a story I wanted to share, so I did. The cows didn't scare me on the way home.
I'm in the unusual situation of having time which is not spoken for as the children are with their grandparents for a few days and hubby was at work, so I grasped the opportunity.
Having completed the morning's committments, I began the journey using Megalithic Portal's satnav add on, which guides you to as close to various site co-ordinates as the road can go, and set off for a new place. After a false start with a hillfort which took me to a dead end in a housing estate and no visible means of accessing it, ( I don't really get excited about hill forts) I headed for a sacred pool in Somerset.
Our idiosyncratic satnav once again favoured the tiny roads and I ended up in a cul de sac at the end of some houses, but at least this one had a footpath leading from it, into
a field full of cows.
They look quite far away there, don't they?
They saw me and decided that I was interesting so they all came towards me. I like cows, but there were a lot of them and I admit, I did retreat to the edge of the footpath in a cowardly way. The satnav lost the signal. The trip was looking doubtful...but Julian spurred me on! I took a deep breath and recalled that the pool was in a wood. I could see a wood in the distance, I would not be beaten by a lot of cow pats and curious mammals, the water called me.
On the other side of the wheatfield is a steeply climbing wood.
To get to the field I negotiated a gate and a very muddy stream, climbing over two thistley sytles and getting nettled on the way, adventurers need adveristy, or they do not appreciate the journey, do they?
At the top of the steep wood was a map, showing that the pool was at the bottom, but much further to the left than I'd gone. Woohoo! I can read maps, I didn't need the satnav anymore and it actually existed. My spirits rose and my sense of achievement began to build, I would find the place, by my own skills.
Accompanied by the calls of birds, I saw no humans in the woods, there was a sculpture trail which provided a green man, which made me smile, but the peace was gratefully received.
After some considerable time walking, I saw something sparkle at the bottom of the hill and there it was, The Whirley Pool
I was so excited by the beautifully clear, bubbling water I accidentally went for a paddle and had very wet shoes and muddy legs for the return of the journey, but it was fantastic.
Surrounded by elder trees, it used to send up jets of water apparently, but now bubbles in the most delightful way.
I sat for a long time after my squelchy bath, enjoying the bubbly noises whilst thinking about the mesolithic people and what it meant to them. To me it meant peace and wellbeing and a story I wanted to share, so I did. The cows didn't scare me on the way home.