The Shadow of Windmill Hill

With nothing pressing at lunch, I took a spin over to Chesterton’s Windmill Hill for a wander up, to pay my respects to the landmark. I sat on the wall with the sun at my back and gazed between the distant M40 and the chattering families of goldfinch flitting between the thistles.

As the clock marked the time to retreat from the countryside, I headed back. At the wheel I drove down the lane to a place where I might make a safe U-turn. That accomplished, and driving back up, I flashed past a shrine tucked into the hedge, low down by the roadside. Mirror, brake, reverse.

The inscription was in Polish. It said
‘Ela
06.06.2010
Pokój jej duszy’

My first thought, it shames me to say, was that here was the work of a devoted pet lover. Not at all, as this press release from Warwickshire Police confirms.