Friday 20 July 2012

36 Views of Brent Tor


At some point in the twelfth century
someone decided that
it would be a great idea
to build a church on top on Brent Tor.


This involved dragging everything
to the top of the rocky outcrop
where the wind is so powerful
that it is difficult to stand upright.


It is a project that inspires awe
nine centuries later
as you contemplate what was achieved
with the most basic of tools.


I try to remind myself that every project,
however large, however difficult,
is completed one stone at a time


and the most important thing
is not the idea or the beginning
but the determination to finish.

*****

Brent Tor is not a million miles
from dovegreyreader towers
and I am delighted to announce that
MrM and I will be hangers-on
in the prestigious dovegreyreader tent
at the Port Eliot festival this weekend.
I will return shortly
with a basketful of literary anecdotes.

7 comments:

  1. Maybe it's a West Country thing - we have Burrow Mump and of course the more famous Glastonbury Tor here in Somerset - obviously being nearer to heaven is probably the thinking behind it all

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  2. It may be difficult to stand up right but I bet sitting down and staring up at the sky would make it worthwhile.

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  3. Looks mighty and powerful.

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  4. i am always in awe at every church, abbey, etc, built in those centuries past. always reaching for something higher, whether through architecture or building site.

    hi there, just stumbled in :)

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  5. This lesson (one stone...) is not lost on me today.

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  6. I suppose they expected to suffer, those 12th century churchgoers. And after clambering up that hill, they would have spent long hours in an icy church.... Good for the soul, maybe!

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  7. AnonymousJuly 23, 2012

    Fabulous photos and share today. Enjoy your time so much that you never forget how happy you felt there.
    I love the old church.
    It would make a fabulous story of its own, wouldn't it?

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