#Adlestrop

[alliwanttodoiscollectpoetry]

Yes. I remember Adlestrop—

The name, because one afternoon

Of heat the express-train drew up there

Unwontedly. It was late June.

The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.

No one left and no one came

On the bare platform. What I saw

Was Adlestrop—only the name

And willows, willow-herb, and grass,

And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,

No whit less still and lonely fair

Than the high cloudlets in the sky.

And for that minute a blackbird sang

Close by, and round him, mistier,

Farther and farther, all the birds

Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

Adlestrop by Edward Thomas

[petermorwood]

Rural trains which stop at every hole in the hedge (deliberately, as opposed to those which just trundle from one breakdown to the next) remind me of the Early Morning Milk Trains in whimsical, eccentric drawings done by Heath Robinson and Rowland Emett.

Unexpected stops in unlikely places have even inspired poetry:

Adlestrop By Edward Thomas Yes. I remember Adlestrop - The name, because one afternoon Of heat the express-train drew up there Unwontedly. It was late June. The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat. No one left and no one came On the bare platform. What I saw Was Adlestrop - only the name And willows, willow-herb, and grass, And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry, No whit less still and lonely fair Than the high cloudlets in the sky. And for that minute a blackbird sang Close by, and round him, mistier, Farther and farther, all the birds Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. Source: Poems (1917)

Travel by stopping-train has also been the deceptive introduction to at least one spooky story; this is "A View From A Hill" by M. R. James, and the opening is...

How pleasant it can be, alone in a first-class railway carriage, on the first day of a holiday that is to be fairly long, to dawdle through a bit of English country that is unfamiliar, stopping at every station. You have a map open on your knee, and you pick out the villages that lie to right and left by their church towers. You marvel at the complete stillness that attends your stoppage at the stations, broken only by a footstep crunching the gravel.

Deceptive.

Slow train journeys in rural England sure are an experience. You're going ten miles and it takes a day and a half because it stops at every lamp-post and the announcement says "The next station stop is Ferretley" or something and you think "I didn't know that was a place" and you get there and it isn't

[caedmonofwhitby]

[peaceofheartt]

Adlestrop, Edward Thomas

[burlveneer-music]

Gilroy Mere - Bicycle Ballet - from his forthcoming Clay Pipe Music album Gilden Gate

Oliver Cherer is back with a new Gilroy Mere record which follows on from his other much lauded Clay Pipe releases (The Green Line, Adlestrop and last year’s D Rothon collaboration, Estuary English). Over the last two decades Ollie has released numerous collections of music in an ever shifting array of modes, from folktronic, singer-songwriter styles through psychogeographic electronica to jazz-tinged, confessional ghost-pop and most recently, the “guitar tainted machine rock disco” of Aircooled.

Gilden Gate is an album of two halves. Side 1 ‘Rising’ celebrates the sun-drenched beaches, pastures and heaths of rural Suffolk, whereas Side 2 ‘Falling’ explores the underwater world of the lost city of Dunwich and its five church spires.

[nsantand]

Edward Thomas – Adlestrop

"Adlestrop", um poema de Edward Thomas

Sim, lembro-me bem de Adlestrop —Do nome, porque num certo diaDe calor o trem ali parouDo nada. Junho se consumia. O trem sibilou. Alguém tossiu.Ninguém saiu daquela estaçãoNem ali entrou. O que vi foiAdlestrop — a denominação, E salgueiros, epilóbios, grama,E erva-ulmeira, seca forragem,Não menos calmos e solitáriosDo que as nuvens altas na paisagem. E de repente, um melro cantouPerto dali, e…

[thelemonzone42]

Abigail The Breeze Fairy

Rachel and Kirsty were relaxing in the garden. Flowers were in bloom and the sun was shining. Mrs. Tate came out and suggested that they should go to the summer festival. Kirsty’s paternal grandmother is going to compete in the annual cake competition. 

At the summer festival, they arrived at the cake competition. It was blowing around like a loose tornado. Everyone did their best to keep their tents down, including the vendors at the cake competition. A boy lost his balloon and Kirsty grabbed it in time. The boy was grateful for Kirsty’s bravery.

As they arrived at the competition, they met Grandma Tate with her famous chocolate fudge cake. Among the other competitors was Mrs. Adlestrop, a cranky woman who always wins with her pastries. This year, Mrs. Adlestrop is adding her lemon cake. Before Grandma Tate could place her cake down, the wind blew out of her hands and landed on the judge. It was a horrible accident.

While cleaning the cake mess up, Kirsty spotted a goblin go underneath the cake table. Unfortunately, she couldn’t find him. Kirsty began to look at the cakes when she saw Abigail the Breeze fairy on a carrot cake posing as a figurine. Hiding by one of the capable tents, Abigail explained that she could sense her feather nearby.

Just then, they heard rustling nearby. Rachel, Kirsty, and Abigail thought it was a goblin, but it was really Mr. McDougall’s dog, ‘Twiglet’. Mr. Twiglet explained that someone has stolen his dog’s food and Twiglet is tracking the thief down. Abigail hid in Rachel’s pocket so she wouldn't get detected. When Mr. McDougall asked them to watch Twiglet while he helped out fix up the other tents, and the two girls agreed.

Outside, they observed the pigsty when they spotted a balloon in the strong wind, holding still. It was strange because it was capable of handling strong wind. Rachel and Kirsty had a strange feeling that a goblin might be on it. They turned into fairies and flew up. And sure enough, they were right. A goblin was playing with the Wind Feather and making strong storms. He also had the smell of dog food breath, explaining what happened to Twiglets food. His breath was as stinky as cheese and liver. 

The goblin tried to get away by cutting loose a sandbag, but the balloon won’t go any higher. When all hope was lost, a rush of strong wind came in and flew the feather out of the goblins hand. Abigail swooped in and saved the feather. Everything turned back to normal. Not wanting to expose the troublemaking creature, Abigail used her Wind Power to send him back to Fairyland.

Rachel and Kirsty arrived at the cake contest in time, only to find out that Gran Tate won the cake contest. The judge was pleased by the taste, especially the extra chocolate in the cake. Mrs. Adlestrop was peeved that she lost the competition and left. They’d figured it’s about time they have a new winner for a change.

Later that day, Raachel and Kirsty left for the barn while Gran Tate stayed behind to support her best bud Mable for the vegetable competition. After placing the Wind Feather on, they asked themselves, ‘What feather are they going to find next?’

The End. 

[youllalwaysfindyourwaybackhome]

(22/75) Adelstrop by Edward Thomas

Yes. I remember Adlestrop—

The name, because one afternoon

Of heat the express-train drew up there

Unwontedly. It was late June.

The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.

No one left and no one came

On the bare platform. What I saw

Was Adlestrop—only the name

And willows, willow-herb, and grass,

And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,

No whit less still and lonely fair

Than the high cloudlets in the sky.

And for that minute a blackbird sang

Close by, and round him, mistier,

Farther and farther, all the birds

Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

[beckywarrencornwall2023]

TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2023 — ADLESTROP, THE COTSWOLDS, ENGLAND. A train used to stop in this tiny village. In 1915, the poet Edward Thomas was on a train that made that stop, and he wrote a poem about it. Now Becky and I have spent our own brief time in Adlestrop.

At breakfast this morning, we chatted with a nice young British couple, both physicians. We've had only a few conversations with locals on this trip, usually with the innkeepers in the places we've stayed. With news headlines being what they are these days, it's nice to be reminded that there are good, thoughtful, friendly people wherever we might go.

After breakfast, we visited Daylesford. To say that it's an organic food store gives a very wrong impression. It's very upscale (or "posh," as the Brits would say). Beautiful produce, cheeses, wines, kitchenware. Like one of those expensive kitchen stores at home, but on steroids. There's a restaurant there, and I was amused to see that it's called "The Trough." We both enjoyed wandering around there (and also enjoyed the rhubarb cream danish we each got as a treat).

Just down the road from Daylesford are the Rollright Stones, three separate examples of ancient standing stones in close proximity to each other. The oldest dates back 5,000 years. In the photo, a little bird sings from atop the "King Stone," unaware that he stands on ancient history. We've seen stone circles in other places in England, Ireland, and Scotland, and they always fascinate me and set my imagination spinning. Who? How? Why? We will never be sure.

We had our final pub supper on this trip at The Horse & Groom, a very nice historic inn established in 1584, and just down the road in the village of Upper Oddington.

We are now back in our room at The Old Post Office B&B. Tomorrow we will drive toward Heathrow, and tomorrow night we will sleep in an airport hotel, before our flight home the next morning. But for now, we will take one last sip of the cool fresh air, and we will go to sleep grateful for all we have seen and done. Together.

It's been a good day.

(Remember to click on the photos to see them bigger.)

[rherlotshadow]

It's Adlestrop Day. June 24 is the date in 1914 when Edward Thomas was on a train that made the unexpected stop, that led to him writing the poem.

[septembersung]

Adlestrop Edward Thomas

Yes. I remember Adlestrop— The name, because one afternoon Of heat the express-train drew up there Unwontedly. It was late June.

The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat. No one left and no one came On the bare platform. What I saw Was Adlestrop—only the name

And willows, willow-herb, and grass, And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry, No whit less still and lonely fair Than the high cloudlets in the sky.

And for that minute a blackbird sang Close by, and round him, mistier, Farther and farther, all the birds Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

[breathtakingdestinations]

Adlestrop - England (by Jack Torcello) 

[outsiderlookinginward]

Remembering Adlestrop and the poet Edward Thomas

Remembering Adlestrop and the poet Edward Thomas

The English poet Edward Thomas immortalised the now vanished railway station at Adlestrop, where his train halted on 24 June 1914, just before the outbreak of the First World War. The themes of intransience and nostalgia are present in many of his other poems, which deserve to be better known. (more…)

[grandpadinosaur]

"Yes. I Remember . . ."

“Yes. I Remember . . .”

1914: Don’t be overly nostalgic about the summer of 1914, warned Paul Fussell in The Great War and Modern Memory. And yet, in almost the same breath, he described it as “the most idyllic for many years”: a time for strolling in the countryside, a time for sipping tea at wicker tables under shady trees, a time when books could be left outdoors all night without fear of rain. (more…)

[burlveneer-music]

A couple tracks from Adlestrop, Gilroy Mere’s new LP for Clay Pipe Music, out July 24

Trading as Gilroy Mere, Dollboy, Rhododendron, and Australian Testing Labs as well as his own name, Oliver Cherer has meandered his way through the backwaters of left of centre English folk, ambient and electronic music, issuing numerous albums of original music to much critical acclaim via highly regarded boutique labels such as Static Caravan, Wayside and Woodland, Polytechnic Youth, Second Language, Deep Distance, and Awkward Formats.

[organicgardendreams]

We visited this farmhouse and its gardens at the Adlestrop Village Open Gardens Day last summer. Isn't it beautiful? I love the design of the gardens surrounding the terrace at the back of the house. It is just the right mix of formality and abundant cottage style. #farmhouse #cottagegarden #formalgardens #cottagegardenstyle #olsfarmhouse #abundant #garden #gardens #gardendesign #organicgardendreams #Adlestrop #england #opengardens #adlestropopengardens (at Adlestrop, Gloucestershire)