Daffodils are a welcome harbinger of spring. At this time of year, however, many are looking tired, their vitality spent, the petals fallen or browning. Yet this is something that should give us equal pleasure. If the blooming daf reminds us that spring is here, how much more the dying daf that summer is soon?
Between my arrival on the Tube and the time at which I could appear at my guesthouse, I called at St Mary’s Church at Islington, Middlesex. Before entering some significant church, I do little research; I like to identify its main features myself and read up about them afterwards.
I found some rather pleasant cowslips growing on London’s Hampstead Heath. Its bright yellow flowers cheer the walker and provide a contrast with a parkland’s ubiquitous green. Its name likely comes from the cruder expression for cow dung, and it has sometimes been called cowslop. It grows well in pastureland, especially those parts in receipt of cattle’s bowel movements.
Fruit tea: doesn’t it sound nice? I drank some Cranberry and Raspberry last week. As the hot water was infused a deep red, a sweet and pleasant aroma emanated from the cup. It was a little like potpourri, those nice-smelling bowls filled with dried petals and spices which old ladies were once pleased to keep in their homes.
Unfortunately, it tasted like potpourri, too.
One sign that the tourist repeatedly encounters at Smithills Hall, Bolton, is ‘Please mind your head’. I am not a tall man, but through many of the doorways was I obliged to stoop lest I banged my head. It is sometimes said that the medieval diet was so poor that the people of that era were small and stunted, and for whom smaller doors were required.
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Salem Chapel, Martin Top
near Rimington, Clitheroe BB7 4EG
Salem Congregational Chapel is a registered charity No. 252401 (England & Wales)
Sunday Worship 10.45am & 6.00pm