My grandmother owned a holiday cottage in School Lane. I remember visiting there as a child one summer. At the top of the lane was a narrow path called the Jitty to access the High Street. Behind a high overgrown hedge was a thatched cottage and an orchard. An elderly couple lived there, doubled over with arthritis. They sat on the sides of a room with a large square table in the middle, covered with bric-a-brac. I looked up at the ceiling and I could see daylight. The thatched roof had collapsed and there was a gaping hole. It was the reason they were sitting at the edges of the room. As a child, I didn't question what happened to them if it rained or how they coped with the cold. Its the only place where I've seen chickens roosting in apple trees! The image of the elderly couple has stayed with me all my life. There's another side to country living and its not all about posh houses, sanitised history and green space. There can be real hardship and suffering in villages.
More magic!!! Ian Merivale
My grandmother owned a holiday cottage in School Lane. I remember visiting there as a child one summer. At the top of the lane was a narrow path called the Jitty to access the High Street. Behind a high overgrown hedge was a thatched cottage and an orchard. An elderly couple lived there, doubled over with arthritis. They sat on the sides of a room with a large square table in the middle, covered with bric-a-brac. I looked up at the ceiling and I could see daylight. The thatched roof had collapsed and there was a gaping hole. It was the reason they were sitting at the edges of the room. As a child, I didn't question what happened to them if it rained or how they coped with the cold. Its the only place where I've seen chickens roosting in apple trees!
The image of the elderly couple has stayed with me all my life.
There's another side to country living and its not all about posh houses, sanitised history and green space. There can be real hardship and suffering in villages.