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Personal Note Archive August 2007

17th August 2007

Dartmoor

Well, we've returned from our trip to the west country, despite a brush with danger feeding the fallow deer at Longleat. The most affecting part of the trip was a walk on Dartmoor. In 5800BC when Britain was separating from the continent, temperatures were two degrees higher in winter and one degree higher in summer than they are now. At this time the moors of the south west, Dartmoor, Bodmin Moor and Exmoor were open grassland, and were good places to live. The moors and heaths of south west England contain some of the best preserved prehistoric landscapes in north west Europe. There are burial barrows, stone circles, mysterious lines of standing stones, outlines of ancient fields, individual standing stones, and the remains of houses and small villages. Then from the late Bronze Age, around 1000BC, the climate cooled, and a thick peat layer slowly spread across the moors. The ancient settlements were progressively abandoned. Today the moors are empty, bleakly beautiful places. Dartmoor is really a picture of a civilisation lost to climate change.

 

 

20th August 2007

Tintagel

The heritage business is a business like any other, and some kind of historical angle can mean more visitors and more money. Inevitably this has led to some creative histories growing up around certain places. I was in Exeter recently and was quite excited when I came upon the Ship Inn, which claimed to be Sir Francis Drake's favourite pub. It certainly looked the part, sitting in a narrow lane, its upper stories reaching over me, as if just walking by I was already in the bar. I did a bit of research, and, well, I suppose you've got to make a living. On the other hand there are some places where an imagined romantic history has become so ingrained, that an actual romantic history has followed on. Tintagel in Cornwall is a good example of this. A castle was built on the headland at Tintagel in the twelfth century by Earl Richard, a son of King John. He built this castle because the most respected historian of the age, Geoffrey of Monmouth, had claimed the place was linked with King Arthur. We now know that Geoffrey of Monmouth didn't always get his facts right. But Earl Richard built his castle, the myth grew, poets came and were inspired, and Tintagel is an historic place because it has been assumed to be historic for so long. Michael Hicks, biographer of Richard the Third, has written that "In history what happened is often much less important than what is thought to have happened." Tintagel is certainly proof of this.

 

 

 

31st August 2007

Diana Memorial Fountain

There are certain critical points where the old and the new come together and struggle for power. One of these points was represented by Diana Spencer. In her life the old aristocratic ways of marriage of convenience met more modern conceptions of marriage. The attitude of people towards her was a similar coming together of opposites. She represented an age old tale of "ordinary" girl who becomes a princess. But she was also seen as a modern girl who seemed to stand apart from stuffy traditions. Britain seems to have a particular fascination for such contradictions. When the old Houses of Parliament burnt down in 1834, historic rooms that actually survived the fire were demolished to make way for new buildings. These new buildings were then designed to look fittingly ancient by the designer Charles Barry. It is now ten years since Diana's death, but she remains a powerful figure. The struggle between the old and the new goes on. Poor Diana got caught in the middle.