marknestbox
New member
- Joined
- May 18, 2012
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
- 0
During many motorbike rides since the mid '70s, I glimpsed at speed a great many architectural elements that raised my interest. Such was the intrigue, that upon repeated exposure, even through periphial vision, curiosity demanded investigation should be made, and this in turn bred an accumulstive and diversifying interest in the more subtle elements of recent, and past history. People are undoubtedly at the heart of this enigma ~ this fixation, for the remains of their existance, no matter how seemingly irrelevant or menial, support any intelligence of our past social and local history.
Through many journeys I have amassed too many such places to recall, ~and with some sadness, confess that I did not answer my queries about them to my satisfaction on many occasions. These places were often still standing, covered in ivy and vine, surrounded by nettles and brambles, and yet were quite obviously the dwellings of people long gone. That they existed in a time prior to my fifty years may not be important... that they did, is.
I recall a well photographed cottage on an Oxon meander of the Thames. Only the foundations and the chimney remain now, and yet the soot and cooking accroutrements of the last meal remain to the touch, over a century after the last meal there, following which the building fell into ruin. A hundred feet in height above this, and less than a half mile removed, once stood, in complete isolation, and in a most romantic situation above a railway line, once stood a quintessential 'Dolls house' of a, dare I say, un-thatched cottage, which my sister and I discovered, in 1969.
This itself began my interest in the past. It was habitable, and of good stead to all intent and purpose. It might well have been saleable (just five miles from Oxford) - but for its location, in the most distant of topographical locations, away from estblished dwellings. It was a typical, boxed, four-windowed, low-roofed construction, - small, but well built, with the staircase running up the middle of the house from the front door.
Apart from broken windows, the place was untouched (children didnt seem to vandalise in or before our day, as amusement came from making dens... not destroying homes!). I researched the place and learnt that someone born there visited a local pub at times, but didnt follow up the information. That beautiful, former home. succumbed to the farmer, who scrubbed out the surrounding woodland, and cottage, to expand crop yield. No trace of it exists. I know of many such places.
This is my introduction. I cannot pretend that I am an average 'Joe'... I do not claim to be that different, but do wish to meet individuals that are like-minded. I am however, not average. I see life through different eyes to most. Yes, I am intelligent... perhaps intellectual (I am from Oxford as it happens) but can be naive and gullible. I try to know when what is right and incorrect. If you wonder... then ask. Mark
Through many journeys I have amassed too many such places to recall, ~and with some sadness, confess that I did not answer my queries about them to my satisfaction on many occasions. These places were often still standing, covered in ivy and vine, surrounded by nettles and brambles, and yet were quite obviously the dwellings of people long gone. That they existed in a time prior to my fifty years may not be important... that they did, is.
I recall a well photographed cottage on an Oxon meander of the Thames. Only the foundations and the chimney remain now, and yet the soot and cooking accroutrements of the last meal remain to the touch, over a century after the last meal there, following which the building fell into ruin. A hundred feet in height above this, and less than a half mile removed, once stood, in complete isolation, and in a most romantic situation above a railway line, once stood a quintessential 'Dolls house' of a, dare I say, un-thatched cottage, which my sister and I discovered, in 1969.
This itself began my interest in the past. It was habitable, and of good stead to all intent and purpose. It might well have been saleable (just five miles from Oxford) - but for its location, in the most distant of topographical locations, away from estblished dwellings. It was a typical, boxed, four-windowed, low-roofed construction, - small, but well built, with the staircase running up the middle of the house from the front door.
Apart from broken windows, the place was untouched (children didnt seem to vandalise in or before our day, as amusement came from making dens... not destroying homes!). I researched the place and learnt that someone born there visited a local pub at times, but didnt follow up the information. That beautiful, former home. succumbed to the farmer, who scrubbed out the surrounding woodland, and cottage, to expand crop yield. No trace of it exists. I know of many such places.
This is my introduction. I cannot pretend that I am an average 'Joe'... I do not claim to be that different, but do wish to meet individuals that are like-minded. I am however, not average. I see life through different eyes to most. Yes, I am intelligent... perhaps intellectual (I am from Oxford as it happens) but can be naive and gullible. I try to know when what is right and incorrect. If you wonder... then ask. Mark
