Thornborough Henges
Feb. 21st, 2006 03:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphiloGood news. A plan to quarry more gravel from around the Thornborough Henges in Yorkshire has been knocked back in the courts.
The Thornborough Henges- three huge, aligned turf enclosures- constitute one of the finest and largest prehistoric ritual sites in Britain. They ought to be as well known as Stonehenge or Avebury.
Here's a poem I wrote about them a few years back.
THORNBOROUGH HENGES
Our towns might look like this- would look like this-
If we let them go. The southernmost henge is a lake
Of grasses. Follow the newly-planted hedge
And you come to the second in line which has thistles as well.
I sat in the West and the clouds hurried out of the East
And I watched the waves of sunshine roll to my feet.
Then by car to the third. It's a circular wood
And we followed the path round the bank- or I think we did
But the boskage has thickened the view. At a crook in the path
We came upon Helen who'd travelled the other way round,
All cheery because she'd discovered a raspberry bush.
The Thornborough Henges- three huge, aligned turf enclosures- constitute one of the finest and largest prehistoric ritual sites in Britain. They ought to be as well known as Stonehenge or Avebury.
Here's a poem I wrote about them a few years back.
THORNBOROUGH HENGES
Our towns might look like this- would look like this-
If we let them go. The southernmost henge is a lake
Of grasses. Follow the newly-planted hedge
And you come to the second in line which has thistles as well.
I sat in the West and the clouds hurried out of the East
And I watched the waves of sunshine roll to my feet.
Then by car to the third. It's a circular wood
And we followed the path round the bank- or I think we did
But the boskage has thickened the view. At a crook in the path
We came upon Helen who'd travelled the other way round,
All cheery because she'd discovered a raspberry bush.
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no subject
Date: 2006-02-21 11:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-21 11:13 am (UTC)The North of England is full of remarkable and remarkably neglected Neolithic and Bronze Age sites.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-21 05:19 pm (UTC)All cheery because she'd discovered a raspberry bush.
What I like so much about your poetry: the surprises and unexpected juxtapositions.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 06:31 am (UTC)It was a very jolly day. We were there for an archaeology class field outing. Helen was our teacher.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 06:38 am (UTC)I'm such a rube. I thought you were referring to some mythical Helen like Helen of Troy, or Helen, goddess of stags.
no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 06:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 06:57 am (UTC)