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Japanese Style Decoration

TIM'S OUTPUT

Tim's Output: News & Updates

Long Hot Summer

27th June 2018

Tanka Prose:

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Despite the work to be done in the orchard this afternoon, the searing heat imposes a slower pace than usual along the river. The water is placid and clearer than I’ve seen it for many years. Beetles come to the surface every so often, before diving back into the obscurity of the deep. In the shade of willows, roach shelter from the scrutiny of sunshine. Your hooves gently grace the gravel towpath, the rhythmic clopping a pleasant distraction on this weary journey. We’re soon at the orchard; much pruning needs to be done before sundown. Tethering you to the gatepost, I set about my task.         


dusty towpath

fringed with flowers...

the white horse

follows my lead

trusts my gentle hand


Inspired by Path to the Orchard, a painting by Sir Alfred Munnings.

Mister Wright

6th June 2018

A haibun (with 4 haiku) about the Santon Downham sand flood of the 1600s. I love Breckland....

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The storms have been unrelenting, threatening the parish for several years. South-west winds have driven them to my door, the furze hedges I planted not holding back the tide. The flood has reached the eves and inundated meadows throughout the village. Little grows in this desert, even sheep’s sorrel cannot persist in the ever changing sandscape. 


foxglove spike

rabbit burrows

buried deep


manure heap

the welcome scent

of spring rain


I’m the fortunate one, the tsunami has destroyed the rest of the village. I’ve managed to clear a path to my house with the help of neighbours; some 1500 cart loads shifted in the last month. This back breaking task is nothing compared to digging out the river. 


sand hill

a green grasshopper

scales the north face


warren dune

summer thoughts      

drift away

Seven Wonders of the Shotley Peninsula

23rd May 2018


When I moved to Manningtree a few years ago, a friend suggested exploration of the nearby Shotley Peninsula in Suffolk. It’s wedged between the Orwell and Stour Estuaries, sporting rolling farmland, valley streams and pockets of ancient woodland thriving with stag beetles and dormice. The following is my list of the seven man-made wonders of the area, each accompanied by a haiku poem. It’s a light-hearted tour of this overlooked and undiscovered country which has more towers than Lord of the Rings!   


Holbrook Bell Tower


I first saw the Royal Hospital School’s bell tower from Wrabness on the south side of the Stour Estuary and it has captured my imagination ever since; reminding me of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. 


child’s mind

a distant bell chimes

with the lamp


St. Mary’s Church


At the eastern end of the peninsula in Erwarton, St. Mary’s Church dates from the 13th century. According to records, Anne Boleyn’s heart was buried in the church by her uncle, Sir Philip Parker. 


high belfry

a queen’s heart

in the crypt


Erwarton Hall


Close to St. Mary’s, Erwarton Hall was rebuilt around 1575 by Sir Philip Parker. Legend has it that Anne Boleyn visited her aunt and uncle here with Henry XIII. 


pothole rain

beyond the gatehouse

empty windows


Shotley Pier


Suffolk’s only railway pier was built by the Marquis of Bristol in 1894 to transport the Royal Mail between Shotley and Harwich. Sadly, the pier is in need of restoration and is the focus of a well publicised campaign to raise funds. 


still bustling

with oystercatchers

disused jetty


HMS Cordelia Mast


The 44 m (143 ft) high mast from HMS Cordelia was erected in 1907 and is a landmark on the eastern tip of the peninsula. 


dry dock

white sail in place

of black


Tattingstone Wonder


The Tattingstone Wonder was originally two cottages, but the local squire did not like his view of them so added a third cottage in 1790. A fake tower was added to make them appear like a church. 


flint façade

in the third cottage

lovers embrace


Freston Tower


Freston Tower is a six-storey Tudor folly overlooking the Orwell Estuary, allegedly constructed to coincide with Elizabeth I’s visit to Ipswich in 1579.


look-out

the folly of a curlew

calling in the mist

Tim's Output: News & Updates

The Seventh Floor

15th May 2018

A haibun (haiku and prose) which is an ancient form of Japanese writing.


Finally, the High Lighthouse is open on a grey spring day. One hundred steps spiral upwards; a claustrophobic staircase. I imagine your ancestors living in sparsely furnished rooms, huddled around fireplaces in winter. Shark’s teeth in a cabinet hold our attention for a few minutes, while we reminisce about an unsuccessful fossil hunt at Harkstead. The top floor houses only a solitary chair and table where the lamp used to be.    


leading lights

your name scrawled

in the visitors’ book

Tim's Output: News & Updates

Boudica’s Bones

9th May 2018

A haibun (haiku and prose) which is an ancient form of Japanese writing.


Our quest for her skeleton begins. You’re not convinced that the Iceni queen died here, you need proof. Digging in the depression between the trees, there is scant reward for our toil. A few bluebell bulbs and earthworms are turned over in pursuit of the warrior’s remains. We feel like grave robbers; a sordid search of The Rampart after nearly two thousand years.


the faint line

of a ghost hedge

spring drizzle 


The excavation continues as the rain recedes. I get a strange feeling of being watched by something beyond the bare embankment; every spade of earth closely monitored. A distant rumble drains the blood from perspiring faces. The sound of boots on clay echoes across the empty field. Dropping our tools we flee from the hedged hollow, not stopping to watch the Roman legion materialise.   


lucky escape

thirteen cowslips

on the verge

Tim's Output: News & Updates
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