There’s a chill in the air for the first time this autumn, the leaves of the trees that line the field are turning red, gold and amber. In the pale pink light of early morning a snuffling can be heard in the undergrowth.
Tag: Nature
A taste of the exotic
In the summer sun, the air is filled with the scent of Spain, the taste of fruit carries a hint of adventure.
Extending the Great Ouse Navigation
Over their beer, the boatmen are dreaming of cargoes and chances.
Church and sport
Shrove Tuesday, the chancel becomes a cockpit, the rector holds the stakes and the church rings with shouts and jeers.
Power and wealth
Henry rides with the hunt, watched from the tower by the women of the court. One of them loses a dress pin, which will only be noticed later as she prepares to feast and dance with the best of England.
Monastic life
A monk in a habit of white, undyed wool. Candlelight flickers round the church, wax the colour of warm honey straight from the hive burns odourless and pure.
Domesday
William I wants to assess his new territory – how good is the land? What resources can it support? How much tax can he raise? Who lives there?
At the crossroads
At the crossroads of Watling Street and the Icknield Way, where the Roman Empire meets Prehistoric Britain, an ape clambers amongst the amphorae of wine and olive oil, of dried fruit and pungent fish paste.
A prehistoric feast
A beast of serious heft has been felled, which calls for celebration.
In the beginning
Bedfordshire begins with the sedimented memory of coccoliths.
