A two-and-a-half mile route march before last night's supper (spaghetti and meatballs) with The Boys, down into the Eye Brook valley near Stockerston on the Leicestershire / Rutland border. The footpath goes in front of the orange brick, cedar shadowed Stockerston Hall, standing behind trees and next to the church where we once again sought out the impromptu signatures on the glass. The second leg of the triangular walk took us past these stacked up straw bales, and the thought occurred to me that we don't see this very often now. I don't mind the big round variety, sitting like giant Shredded Wheat in the fields, unless of course they're shrink-wrapped in that shiny black or pale blue plastic. This is how I like 'em, the Unmitigated Bale Out. Straw towers are to be seen, fleetingly, all over the surrounding acres here, and they brought to mind Philip Larkin's The Whitsun Weddings: 'I thought of London spread out in the sun, / Its postal districts packed like squares of wheat...'. We perhaps won't see straw stacks being sheeted down against autumn storms by Gabriel Oak anymore, but here at least is an almost architectural, if only temporary, exhibition to enjoy. (Title: Agri-Cultural.)
8 comments:
Round here we have plenty of the 'shredded wheat' type - trailers piled with eleven at a time pass my window at regular intervals. But we also have a few of the straw tower-blocks. I was only thinking yesterday while driving past a field full of them that I ought to photograph them, so good on you for doing so. Here's to the off-beat and accidental towers of England, which include the etiolated sheds (aka netshops) of Hastings and the brick tunnel ventilators of the Midlands too.
Here in Brittany they're almost all 'shredded wheat', but some are made into figures to advertise local events or (this being France) protests. Must get some photos of them.
The smaller bales of my youth made excellent castles. I think they roll some of those big round bales in black plastic and add molasses so I guess they become giant silage sweets for the mad people-trampling cattle (see current bonkers press coverage). Not being a farmer maybe someone could enlighten me, about the silage bit that is. When was the last time anyone saw a stack...a proper one, with a thatched top an' all?
Good on you Jon. C'mon everybody- proper stack sightings. And movies with hay / straw stacks in them. Far From The Madding Crowd, The Go Between, ....
The village fete/small country show just wouldn't be the same without a few proper bales scattered around the "arena" for use as seating.
P.S. Picked up your English Heritage pub book last week, very nice.
Thankyou Simon. I'd like to do another pub book, with me going in and out 200 of 'em.
I remember seeing square bales stacked to look like a small Stonehenge, or should that be Strawhenge?
I did see sheaves of corn in stooks in Russia a couple of years ago, although they were turning black.
What about the publicity shot from The Outlaw depicting Jane Russell reclining decorously in the hay ?
Now that`s what I call a Stack !
Post a Comment