I last saw Silbury Hill on June 8th. Yet before then it was a weekly occurrence as I commuted back and forth from Julie's house. A few weeks ago a wonderful radio programme abridged 'On Silbury Hill' by Adam Thorpe, thereby revealing more about this ancient man-made hill than I knew. And it was the first time I have heard mention of its oscillating size. I'd wondered about this many times, as discussed by Adam Thorpe in his book. At some angles the hill is dwarfed by the landscape, at other angles it towers over the hills which surround it. A fascinating structure indeed and it was nice to adjourn my journey home and grab a few images from the pull in by the A4.
The reason for my drive by of Silbury was a Trustee meeting at the Jefferies Museum near Swindon. I had to miss the last meeting in June due to overworking commitments so I was determined to hit this meeting. And I'm glad I did. Not only was the garden looking fantastic in this Indian Summer of a September but recently the Museum had unearthed the remnants of a cow shed and floor, plus the original (looking mostly the worse for wear ) blue gate into the farm yard. For the first time in ages then the original 17th Century farm can be viewed from the yard (now a vegetable garden). Before some volunteers went mad with the loppers, this area between the wall and the shed was a massed blackberry shrubbery. It seemed right then to take this new view from the garden, in sepia. It was wonderful after the meeting finished to walk around the museum grounds on my own, in dappled sunshine, presumably as Jefferies himself did many times as a child. We create footsteps, but leave the imprint for the next person to pass by.
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