A week backwards - part three - and forwards

A walk along Exmoor's north coast last week, with my Kalk Bay Friend, brought more literary associations*, not to mention stunning views, when we set off from the toll house at Worthy Coombe up the steep rocky path to Culbone Church. And by footpath is only way to reach it.

The stonework along these ancient routes is almost iridescent.

After an hour or so of uphill walking, the path curves into a deep coombe and there it is, St Beuno (pronounced Bay-no), reputedly the smallest parish church in England:

A small, silent churchyard, full of old headstones, leaning against each other.

A window known as the leper's squint (at one time, lepers eked out a subsistence living burning charcoal in the surrounding woods).

A time-worn wooden door.

Traditional box pews.

And a font where babies have been brought to be baptised for almost a thousand years.

As my friend said: 'You have so much history'. Tangible history.

In the autumn of 1797, Samuel Taylor Coleridge had walked along the same path. He stopped overnight at Ash Farm, which stands today and is signposted from the path. Fuelled by a little opium, this is where he wrote Kubla Khan, which was eventually published in 1816:

'In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree :
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round :
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree ;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery . . .'

Coleridge was living at Nether Stowey in Somerset at the time, just a few miles from Dorothy and William Wordsworth at Alfoxden, and the three spent many hours walking and exploring this spectacular and wild part of the country. Which brings me, like a circular walk, to what I was doing today, a week later . . .

*I forgot to mention - speaking of literary associations - Culbone is close to the home of Margaret Drabble. It's also the setting for her novel, The Witch of Exmoor, which will give you something of the spirit of the place. Or you could just go back to Samuel T and The Ancient Mariner. My choice would be Dorothy Wordsworth's Alfoxden Journal, of which more anon.

Comments

[Jay]

I love that old wall! And what a beautiful little church! So ancient and simple. Beautiful.

[b]

This is the kind of blog that speaks to the readers heart. The pictures were just beautiful.

Here in the states, 9/11 is such a sad day. Your blog did truly lift my spirits. Thank you.

b

[60 Going On 16]

Jay - it is a very special place and it was good to do that walk with a special friend.

b - I'm glad the post brought some solace on 9/11. I was caught up in the London bombings on 7/7, thankfully not injured, but it is something that I will never, ever forget. Each year, when the anniversary comes round, I have to go somewhere very still and very quiet for a while.

[Juliet]

A perfect post, D, and a wonderful way to start my working day. Thank you.

[colleen]

I could almost smell that leafy path and feel the dampness.

Loooking forward to hearing more about Dorothy. All that suppressed passion and walking, walking, walking.

[Janet]

I loved the photographs of the church and was struck by the dedication. I'd never heard of St Beuno before. It seems he was Welsh and only had 11 churches named for him - most of them in Wales. Exmoor is probably the furthest from his home.

[sarah Salway]

This is lovely. I feel I was walking with you.

[Rita@Goldivas]

Beautiful pictures! Thank you.

Rita

[KSV Woolfoot]

What a treat. Those Coleridge lines coming after the beautiful pictures added such a nice dimension. That is a walk I think I could take every day for the rest of my life, if it were given to me. Thanks for sharing.

[60 Going On 16]

Thanks so much for all your appreciative comments! And a warm welcome to Sarah. (Do take a look at Sarah's excellent blog - http://sarahsalway.blogspot.com - a must for writers but an all-round box of delights too.)