Lathyrus Odoratus

By lathyrus

St Mary's or Memorial Common

Sun breaking through the mist on the early morning walk over one of our commons. Some people call this St Mary's Common - after the church which stands in the northeast corner. I used to think the names of the commons must be quite old but it turns out they date from the early 1980s. Apparently they were given to help people direct the fire brigade (I would have thought vast plumes of smoke from burning heathland would have been enough of a clue). And, it turns out that they were made up by a committee. In this instance the committee decided to ignore the local name and call it "Memorial" Common after the memorial stone that commemorates the two men who had campaigned for the preservation of the commons and who secured their status as a nature reserve. Again, I wonder whether the fire brigade would find a church more quickly than a stone memorial? I also wonder if it was the same committee that decided to erect the memorial?

Comments
Sign in or get an account to comment.