This is the marble and stone yard set deep in the Savernak Forest which I visit quite regularly. There are small lakes of melted snow now, and the great sheets of multi-coloured marble and granite are still covered for protection.
This onyx and other marbles are under a roof, so do not need tarpaulins.
Look at the red of these rocks. As a rule of thumb, red means iron content and green means copper. You begin to wonder if there is anything in astrology and the old beliefs when you consider that Mars is the god of war, his metal is iron and the actual planet is so saturated with rusty red iron that you can see its colour from Earth with your naked eye. Wars over food and ploughshares being turned into swords.
This yard is run by two women from a rickety office. One is six feet four inches tall and the other is barely five feet. The owner is a chatty man who is idiosyncratic to the point of eccentricity.
The yard itself is also eccentric. It really is set just outside of a village in one of the South of England's largest and most ancient forests. The titled owner of the forest is also pretty eccentric. He told everyone recently that he was closing all the roads which run through his forest, but in the end relented when he was told that this would isolate all the houses in the village, putting an extra twenty or so miles on a journey back from the shops in the nearest town.
The name 'Savernak' means 'Seven Oaks'. There must be some ancient significance to the number seven when applied to oak tress. There is a 'Sevenoaks' in Kent.
There has been a delightful series of readings on the radio about a year in the life of a small wood in Herefordshire called 'Cockshut'. The name comes from when woodcock were trapped in these woods - 'shut' being an old term for trapped.
The narrator told a story about a man - possibly in the 18th century - who instructed his gardener to plant more trees on his land. The gardener replied that it would be pointless to plant the sort of trees that the owner had in mind, because they took around 100 years to grow to any reasonable size.
"Well you had better begin planting soon then," was the landowner's response.
Mars is my ruling planet.
ReplyDelete100 years to grow? I am just starting to plant my rockery so I shall ignore that sort of remark.
ReplyDeleteWith oak trees, Weave?
DeleteAquarians are one of three signs that have two ruling planets. I’m an Aquarian and my ruling planets are Uranus and Saturn ..... and I like trees.We planted a tree after the Great Storm of 1987 ...... it’s now about 100 ft high. XXXX
ReplyDeleteMust be a Redwood.
DeleteReally good read.
ReplyDeleteThe book on Cockshut must be better.
DeleteA stone mason’s Cash and Carry in the depths of a magical forest. It conjures up a mythical picture of elves with chisels assisted by fairies on work experience.
ReplyDeleteCan we see your work one day Tom?
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LX
I'm not allowed to publish pictures of my work, sadly. Like I said the other day, if you read my C.V. you would think I have done nothing for 25 years.
DeleteShrinking violet...
DeleteLX
No, not at all. I am contractually obligated.
DeleteWhy? Because the people paying you beer vouchers don’t want the hot polloi to caste their eyes on ‘their’ creations?
DeleteLX
’hoi polloi’ this blooming machine corrects me on the moment critique...
DeleteLX
Mars rules here, too, but often is caught napping. Around here these sort of shops are for kitchen counters, though there is one across the street that is for landscaping.
ReplyDeleteYes, most of our smaller yards are for kitchens, but mine deals with large block too.
DeleteNapoleon was supposed to have said the same thing when he ordered plane trees planted on the new routes national so that they would give shade to his marching troops. The officials said it would take ages before the trees offered effective trade and Napoleon said in that case the sooner you start the better.
ReplyDeleteWell the Romans were responsible for all those avenues of poplar to shade the legions as they marched. People like Napoleon admired the Romans.
DeleteBoth Poplars and Planes were planted in France on the birth of a daughter. When time came for her to be married, the trees would be big enough to be felled and pay all the expenses.
DeleteInteresting. I suppose they didn't cut them down from the roadside!
DeleteHello there. Eccentric businesses are so inviting for snooping about, especially in such evocative locations. Thanks for the chance to see. I bought an antique white onyx necklace years ago in Italy, but you don't see it much around this part of the world. What did you choose?
ReplyDeleteA large Devon Marble pillar (not in photos). This business used to be extremely eccentric when it was in the heart of the village. Google up Great Bedwyn village post office.
DeleteOh, and hello Pipistrello.
DeleteI used to live very near to Cockshutt (2 T's) in Shropshire.
ReplyDeleteIt is wisely said that one plants trees for one's grandchildren, but that didn't include Leylandii.
One of my clients plants fully grown trees. They do not want to wait for the grandchildren to grow up. I only ever heard the name Cockshutt on the radio, and nobody told me about the extra t.
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