As we have avoided pics of the park for a while I thought I would cease your anxious wait by allowing a peep at the gray, dreich, damp weather that in the UK we call 'summer.' I would have preferred to leave the house around six and picture the sun rising slowly over the trees, however reality sank in and I stayed in bed until seven. The rain, continuous and heavy, stopped about lunchtime. Only then did I consider wandering out. Having considered I waited until I was sure the rain would stay off. After three I left the house and by ten minutes past it was raining again!
As I crossed the road back to my condominium I pondered on the history of the road I crossed. For several thousand years people have trod this way. Long before the Romans arrived I suspect a path through the woods which covered the area was formed by the feet of travellers. With the early Britons established in what is now Colchester a firm trail must have led this way. Roman engineers then remodelled the road according to their engineering principles and thus earning the way the term 'Stane Street.'
Roman troops marching he fifteen miles probably encamped at this spot where the road from London to Lincolnshire crossed heading north. Hence the beginning of a hamlet on this spot. Later development around 1200 under Church auspices saw great growth for the market. The number of animals brought along this road to market, the number of troops, the individual travellers over the years interest me. Thousands, millions of journeys have been made over the years.
I suspect most of them grumbled about the summer rain!
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7 comments:
This continuous rain is almost enough to make me want to leave these shores.
How can one road cross another and only be heading north?
I don't know about the numbers of troops, but the numbers of animals is confirmed by your second photo. I wish I could have lived in those days. I do note the lady seems to be casting a shadow, so maybe not a photo of England after all.
Mo, It could be worse, you could be in the Highlands! This is an unusual year right enough. There is usually a month of sun but we are getting it bad. I blame the USA sending it's worn out hurricanes over here!
Max, The problem with the north road is nobody ever came back south.....
Good point about the shadow mind! The houses causing the shadow are now a Sainsburys petrol station! (That's 'Gas' to you!)
It's really been a matter of dodging the rain lately. I imagine the Romans just marched through it and took no notice.
A nice old photo. If you were to see the same scene today I bet it would be littered with tall ugly lamp posts, white and yellow lines on the road, traffic signs and vast numbers of cars.
Jenny, Now a much changed scene, a petrol station!
Sainsbury's petrol gas??
Max, Petrol is gas in the US and considerably cheaper! That is why your gas guzzling vehicles have damaged the climate and shifted the rain south over us this summer!
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