HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1969-12-25, Page 140 ,14 11 OA%E14 EU 25, 1969
13V G. MacLEOD ROSS
THF4 ;YNJST.-'I'he Romans did
.net penetrate much further west
than . Exeter but the Normans
built another cathedral here and
they are remembered til this day
by the single bell which rings out
the "couvre feu" or endow
Which warned the Saxons to put
out all fires and to seek their
beds. "Glorious Devon"
comprises in Dartmoor, one, of
the oldest inhabited areas of
Britain. The Moor itself is open,
bleak and wild, yet'in summer it
is a glorious tract to ro tm. Here
are all manner of ancient stone
monuments, hut settlements,
rock basins, stone circles and
stone bridges. On its edges are
such well known villages as that
of Widdecombe, with its church
known as the Cathedral of the
Moor. Buckfastleigh has a
church approached by 198.steps
and a Norman font. A mile to
the north is Buckfast Abbey,
originally built by Cistercain
Rediscovering England
being worked, again today. The
Cornish had a language of their
Own as recently as the 18th
century which is related to the
Breton and Welsh tongues.
Cornwall spells .stone walls
and cobbled streets; coves with
dramatic seascapes and small sea
ports built on igneous crags.
Polperro is such a one, with a
maim street leading to the quay
so narrow that a turn table is
provided to reverse automobiles.
The beachcombers of this rugged
coast ever welcomed a wreck, so
it is not surprising that the
people ,of the t,izard, when Sir
John Killigrew built the first
ljghthouse on the Point in 1619,
complained he was depriving
them of God's Grace, otherwise
wrecks.to pillage.
Tintagel Castle built in 1236
bears overtones of King Arthur's
knights, for here was located the
Round Table and the traditional
meeting place of the knights.
Just off Land's End are the
monks in the 10th century and Seilly Isles which catch ,the Gulf
much more recently renovated Stream and produce the first
• and rebuilt by the Benedictines daffodils to be sold in London
with their own hands. Nearby each year. During the last war
Buckland -in -the -Moor was these were brought in 280 miles
Drake's birthplace; a tiny village by bicycle.
of 60 inhabitants.
The estuary of the Dart saw
the flower of England's chivalry
sail for the Holy Land and the
Crusades and from this river too,
on June 6th 1944, sailed 480
ships to Normandy on yet
another crusade. Sir Walter,
Raleigh is said to have smoked
his first pipe on English soil at
Greenway, to be promptly
doused with a jug of beer by a
servant who thought him to be
on fire.
Devonshire is forever
associated with such great
seafaring names as Drake,
Hawkins, Raleigh, Grenville and
Gilbert. Plymouth, known to the
Saxons as Tarnarwearth, was
first fortified in the 14th
century. It welcomed Drake's
"•Goiden---Hind-'-ho a --from the
Indies, laden with Spanish
treasure. In July 1588 , .the
Spanish Armada sailed by,
missing their chance to bottle up
the harbour. On the Hoe Drake
played his immortal game of
bowls, :bidding the Spaniards:.
"They must wait their turn,
good souls," until such time as
he had finished his game. In
1620 t1.2.0..)'Mayflower" touched
here from Portsmouth, her last
port' of call before her
rendezvous with what is now
New England.
The names Raleigh and
Gilbert are carried to this day by
Walter Raleigh Gilbert, who lives
at Compton Castle, near
''Torquay, and among his
possessions is a model of the
"Squirrel" in which his ancestor
and. Raleigh's half brother, Sir
Humphrey Gilbert. was lost at
sea in 1583 after establishing the
first North. American colony on
Newfoundland.
THE MIDLAND&
memorial to - a sacrificing
populace, for when the Great
Plague of 1665-66 struck, the
village Rector sealed it off from
the world and thus saved the
Midlands and North from
infection. In all 75 percent of •
the 350 souls of Eyam were
buried.
Chester is noted for its `Rows'
which link whole blocks of
second floor shops. Some believe
they all began by, building on the
old Roman wall. Later others
built in front, so that the
,opportunity of yesterday may
prove the necessity of today,
when vehicles usurp all space at
road .level. Chester is full of
blackened half timbers, white
plaster and leaded window
panes. Not far from the
crookednesses of Chester is the
radio telescope of Jodrell Bank
which keeps such an annoying
eye on Soviet satellites which it
hunts like a blocldhound.
The Midlands were originally
called Mercia, with Birmingham
the best known city. This is the
land of • Hargreaves and
Compton, builders of spinning
machines; of Arkwright and his
spinning loom. Josiah
Wedgwood burnt his china here
and some superb stained glass is
manufactured in this area. In the.,
17th Century, William III
ordered 200 flintlocks a month
from a Birmingham firm at
seventeen shillings apiece. In the
20th Century it was the
Birmingham Small Arms
company which turned out half ,
a million . Browning 'machine
guns with .which to, arm the
Hurricanes and Spitfires.
- This .Coo- ---is-th
Cornwall's history has always,
been distinct .from that of the
rest of England, for both Saxon
penetration and Norman
influence were long and
strenuously resisted. The county
was ever famous for its tin and
its mines were known to the
Greeks and, possibly to the
Phoenicians also. • Tin watt
exported by the Bretons to Gaul
and smelted with copper in
Cyprus to make bronze. These
mines were worked again during
World War 2 when s pplies-from
the East stopped and they are
• a • a • a • a • a • : •
In official documents of the
Post Office dated, 1851 the
island was referred to as Prince
Edward's Island.
Samuel Johnson, born at
Litchfield: of Fox and the
Society of Friends; of Coventry
where Lady Godiva still •rides,
but in bronze. Hatfield has
become the home of the Cecil
family; a family whose members
have influenced Parliament since
Queen Elizabeth I made' William
Cecil her first minister, and here
you will find the first silk --Made
in, England in the - form of
stockings for the Virgin Queen.
THE NORTH COUNTRY.
The. Westmoreland dialect
derives from Norse settlers of
1,000 years `ago, yet in World
War II. Westmoreland soldiers at
Narvik found the Norwegians
understood their dialect. A
characteristic of the North is
brutal candour.
At York the whole history
from the Romans to Hitler
unfolds like a pageant from its
architecture. Here Constantine
was proclaimed a a Roman
Emperor in A.D. 306, and while
little of the Saxon buildings in
. wood remain, we jump to the
Norman masterpiece, - the
cathedral which ,took 950 years
to complete, so that the art of
four centuries glows from its
100 windows. From York you
can look out to Marston Moor, a
Cromwellian , victory; to
Stamford Bridge where Harold,
the last Saxon king, defeated
Tostig his brother on the 25th of
'moo
the Norman invasion.
Scarborough was first
Skaraiburg, then Skaroaborg -
Scarthebore --Scareburgh and
was first founded by a Norse The Roman • Mancunium
raider dubbed "the Hare lip." became the Saxon Mameceaster
Yorkshire is full of abbeys and the Manchester of today. Its
which stood as beacons of faith importance dates from Edward
in a sea of barbarism. Some built the III, when weaving and the
in the 7th century were manufacture of woollens' and
desrtrclyed by the Danes in the cotton goods was undertaken by
9th and then rebuilt in the llth the Flemings. ,But Manchester
century by ' Benedictines. came into its own with the
Cistercians founded such building of,- the. Ship Canal in
beautifully sited abbeys as 1894 and Manchester was on the
Rievaulx and Fountains in the sea at last.
12th century. As you look on The Lake -District is full of
their ruins today you cannot but Norse words, 'e.g. Ghyll - a
be impressed at the choice of ravine with stream; Beck - a
site. Remote, often in a clearing brook; Force"- cascade; Wyke 4
in the forest and invariably with a bay; Home a an inlet. Sheep
a stream where •filch for Friday 'follow `trods' and 'graze on
might • be caught. Eight miles `hows' amid tarns and lofty
' from Fountains Abbey is the Fells. Grasmere celebrates St.
second "oldest city in England: Oswald's , Day during the
Rion, where the Norman summer, for it was at this time
cathedral still stands and is "in of the year that the Saxons
use. When you enter, just before would change the rushes on their
dusk and look down the central floors. Windermere, Keswick,
aisle, you are staggered by the Coniston and Ullswater; all of
beauty of the huge gothic arch them lovely lakes, surrounded
in front of the choir. It is made by fells where some of the best
of yellow "sandstone and from rock climbing can be had.
one side an amber floodlight William Wordsworth lived at
picks it out. Truly one of -the Grasmere, as did Coleridge and
most impressive sights you will de iQuincy, who found it "the
meet in the abbeys. In Ripon very Eden of English beauty."
"The Horn" is blown nightly, a
survival of the Saxon
"Wakeman" call, and needless to
say the horn is the° original one, East. Anlia is England's broad
a treasure kept in .the Town Hall. shoulder. It is the artist
Constable's country and at one
In Westmoreland at Levens time supported an amphibious
Hall there are sculptured yews race. Ports are Lowestoft and
and hedges of box. Such topiary Grimsby, from whence the
work delighted ancient Rome, Pilgrims sailed in 1608 for
graced Renaissance Italy and Holland. Lincoln is the modern
France and then caught the veion of the Roman Lindum
fancy of 17th century England. Colonia,. for it vas a Roman
The mark of. the scissors is on gateway. At Scra mpton the
every plant and bush. Created by Lancaster bomber • memorial
James II's gardener, it stands takes the form of 'an aircraft
unmatched. which made 100 sorties over
Germany. Here too. is the
.•. •u.. 1..
EAST ANGLIA.
Further west is Liverpool, original Boston, five of whose
once the world's premier cotton sons became govei'"nors cif
port. The river Mersey saw the '�tasachusetts. The Norfolk
'Greatt` Eastern' sail and later. the Broads are noted for their
original `Mauretania' and the w h e r r i e s and windmills;
ill-fated Lusitania, both docked Norwich. the county town, gave
here at England's second port. salirtuary to the Flemish
Ferries will take you across to weavers and was the birthplace
t Birkenhearl.Aeacorab d.. -Neva,_' of Horatio 'Nelson.
Brighton and amongst them is • ' came to receive the Freedom of
the "Royal Daffodil" which won the town and put his left hand
her laurels at the blockading of on the Bible. the clerk° said:
Zebrugge in World War L "your •right hand my Lbrd."
England's smallest county is
Rutland which demands a horse
shoe from each peer who enters
the manor. Here is Bosworth
Field where Richard III met his
death, while Henry Tudor
triumphed'' to end the bloody
Wars of the Roses of York and
Lancaster and though it was five
centuries ago, the rivalry
between Yorkshire and
Lancashire smoulder 'ori in
something of the same manner
as that between South and
North in America. Melton
Mowbray pork pies are famous,,
as are the hunts of the ,Quorn
(=corn) -nand the Belvoir
(=beaver'. Further north • is -
Saxon
s
Saxon . Snottingham. still
redolent with tales of Robin
Hood, an early socialist. Here are
lace, Player's cigarettes and
Raleigh bicycles and here the
bells for Yale University were
cast. Chatsworth and Hardwick
Hall were homes inherited by
Bess of Hardwick, who married
four times, at 12, at 27 and
finally at 48. Hardwick is noted
for having more glass area than
walls - a forerummer of the
glass houses so dear to the heart
of the late Mies van der Rohe of
Chicago fame. •
The tiny village of Eyam in
the Peak District. stands • as a
founded by Henry VI in 1441,
with its superbly architected
chapel which contains 11,000
square feet of stained glass.
Emmanuel College was the
citadel of the Puritans and it
educated John Harvard, whose
own college rose at another
Cambridge in Massachusetts.
Darwin's rooms are still shown
at Christ's and at Magdalene is
Samuel Pepys' library, where his
diaries in shorthand lie open.
Isaac Newton came to
Cambridge in 1661 at the age of"
23 and began his studies of the
mature of light, the prism and
the convey; lens, culminating in
his book, "Principle."
Cambridge is also well known
for the Cavendish Lab where
Rutherford split the atom and
thus laid the ground work for
the bomb. Nearby Newmarket
has the only straight race course
in the country, a sport born in
"That is• at Teneriffe,'' replied
the admiral. Ely in the Fen
country is where the Normans
built yet another cathedral in
1080.
Peterhouse is Cambridge
t.niversity's oldest college of the
29 and was founded in 1284
Another is King's College,
James the First's time and later
banned by Cromwell.
On this note we conclude this
very halsty race over England in
the hope that it may have
revived some memories.
Old-fashioned
Hearty greetirig . are
sent your wa cid so
are' heartiest thanks!
utc-hinson
Raclin TV -- Appliances
308 Huron Rd. 524-7831
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� SANEY'S
BARBER SHOP
1
„.
32 Hamilton Street
SANDY and STAN PROFIT wish to' thank all their cur
ish
tamers for their patronage throughout the year, and w
them, their families, and friends . , .
A Very Merry Christmas
1
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cs a -z)m oma ars tr s na a:2m
And A Guid New Year Tae Yin An' A'
.May every joy and blessing of this holy
season 'come to you and your loved ones,
bringing peace and happiness . . . making
hearts and spirits bright._ Merry Christmas!
W.J.Denomme
Flower Slop
•
t this wonderful time of the year we wish
you and your families the merriest and
happiest Christmas ever, plus a special
"Thanks" for being special to us!
oderich Discount
Bill tougheed
4.
jam.'- -s /'
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.moi 9le
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We pause:mid the holiday
hustle to count our nanny blessings,
and to express'deep nppre4 iatiem for the patronage .
• , 'y t Christmas -greetings!
ass '
�ottt have given u t. 'Tri, you and yours, fondest
KER' S*
JEWELLERY
000E ';`H
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To you and your famiily, our wish is for all
the merriment and excitement of this festive
season ... all the joy and warmth of a Yuletide celebration.
And may w 11I, ank you for your much appreciated patronage.
9583
MANAGEMENT AND STAFF OF
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