Wick Hill

Maud Heath, the market woman and widow of Kellaways who, half a millennium ago (c. 1474) financed the construction and maintenance of the four and a half mile causeway from Wick Hill to Chippenham, captured S's imagination, and so we set out on a walk from Monument Farm. The inscription at the top of Wick Hill read "From this Wick Hill begins the praise of Maud Heath's gift to these highways."

Maud heath's monument itself depicts Maud with her basket and stick, and was erected in 1838 at the expense of the Marquis of Lansdowne and William Bowles of Bremhill, who wrote the verse at its base ("Thou who didst pause on this aerial hight/Where Maud Heaths Pathway winds in shade or light/Christian wayfarer in a world of strife,/Be still and ponder the Path of Life").

A kestrel hovered above it and the cattle grazed in indifference to the stunning view across the Avon valley.

(Taken with a Pentax ME Super, on Kodacolor VR 100 print film, scanned on a printer-copier-scanner from a BonusFilm Express 6x4 print)

L.
12.2.2013

Lozarhythm Of The Day:
Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band - Wayfaring Stranger (Live) (1980)