DOWN MEMORY LANE
A few days ago we attended a funeral of a life
parallel to that of our late Queen. A lady of similar age too – 98 all but a
day – with a remarkable life story. The funeral service took place in a small
village deep in the Devon countryside, so a fair drive from our home here in
Lincolnshire.
On the way back we decided to make a detour through the lanes surrounding my
old village near Wincanton – where I lived until my marriage 39 years ago. I’m
not sure if it’s a good idea to return and retrace steps and visit a once
familiar and much loved place… ‘My’ village of Bratton Seymour has changed
dramatically, most of the houses now hidden behind thick foliage and can only
be briefly glimpsed from the narrow lane. The ‘Church Farm’ of my book and
childhood has even lost it’s entrance and is now approached via a collection of
buildings and concrete yard – easily missed on a ‘drive by’.
And then there was the church itself which seemed rather dank and sad on a
drizzly September morning, but when we entered I could picture it as it was all
those years ago, the people who sat in the pews and my mother pumping and
playing the old harmonium. In particular I could picture our family pew – as
described in my book, and even imagined my father leading the singing and
taking the collection. Outside, my parents’ headstone has weathered during it’s
4 decades and the churchyard of 2022 contains many more commemorative stones
and graves, but the view across to King Alfred’s Tower can still just be seen between
the trees.
All the houses in the village are much bigger now, sporting large extensions
and in some cases they have been completely rebuilt – as with ‘Northacre’, my
second childhood home. Actually we turned the car around and went on our way
before seeing it…my courage failing, and wishing to remember the house as it
once was.
I attach photos of my ‘memory lane’ trip – the wonderful Norman entrance
archway to St Nicholas Church, inside the building, and looking down on the old
chimneys of Church Farm.
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