Dear Don,
Full of cold and having an early night. Freezing in the house tonight and couldn’t really concentrate on anything, so I started looking back through some of the older pics from last year… before we ever put pen to paper for The Initiate. First thing I came across was one of our futile attempts at entry to the St Nicks opposite the Seeing Hill. And there I was the other week, trawling for the perfect cross for that map illustration for Dark Sage. Typical! It even has the twin beasts on the top…
Mind you, the more I look back, the clearer it becomes that we already had all the elements that very first weekend. From the chalk cross we only really understood last weekend to the dragons, chalk or otherwise… the hills, the Anglo-Saxon stuff, right back to the barrows and mounds and the High Ways. Even the… er… let’s call them stone pillars. I mean, I know we know that now, but seeing the pictures again after so long just brings it home.
Even the birds. The pictures we got of the red kites that weekend are still about the best I’ve managed so far! And Lord knows, I’ve tried…
I had a look at the Whiteleaf Cross though tonight. The earliest known reference dates back to 903AD and mentions a ‘phallic shaped boundary marker’. Apparently when the monks moved into the area they may have Christianised it with the cross piece. Which ties in with what we have been talking about. The surviving barrow up there seems to be of a rare type for the area too once I started digging a bit. Now we know the archaeology of the area a good bit better the landscape really comes to life in that respect.
It will be good to revisit some of the places now we can bring a greater depth of knowledge to them when you are down again. Who knows what else might come to light? Just hope the weather holds! The daft dog is burrowed under the cushions again snoring, and with luck settled for the night so I’m calling it a day.
Love,
Wen and Anu x
