33 / The Woods

This post is a guest contribution by my talented brother:

THERE WAS ONCE A ROAD THROUGH THE WOODS...

If you were to stand at the cross roads in the village of Upper Seagry in Wiltshire, you would find an aged oak tree with it's circular metal seat and the New Inn pub still trading, despite the ravages of time.

If you were to take from here the road towards Malmesbury, past the splendid new village hall you would soon come to a five-barred gate on your left hand side. From here you would be able to strike out across a field and diagonally down a slope to the edge of woodland and a small wooden gate.

Beyond the gate, the narrow track that once wound through the woods, under sweet chestnut trees and silver birch has become overgrown, but imagine it is still clear. Eventually the track would open onto a clearing and in it, there was once a small, honey-coloured, stone cottage.

Leaping forward nearly 60 years, there are four people, siblings, now standing together in the garden of a wedding reception who could have found their way to the cottage even on a moonless night. This was their home during the 1950s to early 1960s and where their roots became forever intertwined with love.

On the occasion of my son Jem’s wedding to Lisa, as my own brother and sisters posed together for the wedding photo, this was their moment and they were glad of it. 

© Benóg Brady Bates