hamer the framer

Hatfield Forest

Another Covid walk, this time back in early September last year. We’d been wondering about returning to Hatfield Forest for months, but each time we checked the National Trust website we were discouraged from visiting. The car park had to be booked in advance, and whenever we tried it appeared to be full. You will be turned away if you arrive without booking. So, in the end, we decided to drive to the nearby village of Hatfield Broad Oak and walk to the forest from there. Continue reading “Hatfield Forest”

Gone To Earth

A film for a housebound Sunday afternoon; a wild creature held captive… Continue reading “Gone To Earth”

Concerto No.1 in D Minor J S Bach

Sunday morning Bach and Polina Osetinskaya at the piano, with her own very dedicated page turner… Continue reading “Concerto No.1 in D Minor J S Bach”

Newport, Widdington & Debden

We crossed the footbridge at Newport railway station, over the West Anglia Main Line between Elsenham and Audley End, forty miles north along the route from London Liverpool Street to Cambridge. The track was quiet, the train had just disappeared and taken all the noise and commotion with it. We were left with a few bubbles of birdsong in its wake. Continue reading “Newport, Widdington & Debden”

Galley Hill Green

A way-sign lost in the brambles, another signpost in the passage of time. The year telescopes down with each remembered walk swallowed up by the next one. The days are condensed, each shorter than the last (now getting longer), summer sunshine stored away to illuminate winter hibernation. Continue reading “Galley Hill Green”

Hangman’s Reel

So this one’s for Jonny, for his Rowley’s Record Bar, a toe-tapping thank you tune to get you down off the gallows and back on the straight and narrow – Shake a leg but don’t break it then break an egg but don’t shake it!

Ya Bnayya

This is another contribution from Jonny Hannah, Syrian farmer and wedding singer Omar Souleyman. Thanks Jonny – I got this song from a lockdown film (one of the many); Le monde est a toi (The world is yours), a fantastic French hapless gangster comedy. It was a good time to expand my music tastes, so here goes with a thumping bit of Moroccan techno (sorry, that’s an awful description). Don’t know what he’s saying, but it’s just the ticket…

Paglesham

This was another walk we’d done before, so once again we were going over old ground, but not necessarily knowing the way. We may have already been here but that doesn’t mean we’d left our mark. We were backtracking but we were not remembered and we all look different every time. Continue reading “Paglesham”

The Kinetic Xylophone

A ball rolls down a mile-long ladder of wooden steps, which are in fact the keys of a giant xylophone, hidden in the forest in Kyushu, Japan. As it trips down the staircase, the ball plays the notes of Bach’s famous Cantata 147 – Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring. A gentle rejoicing melody for Christmas. This film was made in 2012 to advertise Touch Wood mobile phones.

A Winter Windowland

It’s like a compilation album with hits from all your favourite artists. They just take a bit of finding. And whilst you’re looking you might discover something new, something previously overlooked. You might even need to come inside and look around. But quick, it’s getting late. Continue reading “A Winter Windowland”