{"id":2473,"date":"2022-09-17T14:24:33","date_gmt":"2022-09-17T13:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peterboroughramblers.co.uk\/?p=2473"},"modified":"2022-09-17T14:41:24","modified_gmt":"2022-09-17T13:41:24","slug":"the-helpston-walk-september-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peterboroughramblers.co.uk\/?p=2473","title":{"rendered":"The Helpston Walk September 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

I long for scenes where man hath never trod<\/span><\/h2>\n

Pictures of the walk from Tom Dolby.\u00a0 Commentary by Tony.\u00a0 Church and John Clare images from Wikipedia.<\/p>\n

\"\"Helpston is a village of around 1000 people and is one of those places which never quite knows where it is, being at times in Northamptonshire, sometime in Huntingdon and Peterborough, sometimes ini Cambridgeshire, and currently administered by the City of Peterborough. \u00a0\u00a0<\/sup><\/p>\n

The parish church is dedicated to St Botolph of the 7th century, who is rather interestingly noted as the patron saint of boundaries, which obviously is of considerable interest to Ramblers.\u00a0\u00a0 His feast day is on 17 June (although Scotland has it on a different day).\u00a0 And I think we ought to celebrate this next year, although I’ve not put the notion to the committee as yet.\"\"<\/sup><\/p>\n

Now the key thing people know of Helpston if they know anything at all is that John Clare, one of the great English poets, lived in the village.\u00a0 Indeed the John Clare cottage in the village is open to members of the public thanks to money from the Heritage Lottery Fund.\u00a0\u00a0 The local primary school is also named after the village’s most famous resident.<\/p>\n

Sadly the only thing many know of John Clare is that he had mental health difficulties in his life, and it is extraordinary how many know this but have not come across such poems as “I am” which contains that most wonderful line that should (in my view) be the motto of the Ramblers, “I long for scenes where man hath never trod”.<\/p>\n

The full poem can be found at the end of this little piece.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"\"John Clare’s tomb is pictured on the left and although I was unable to come on this walk I was able to pay my respects at the tomb the last time we walked from the village.\u00a0 If you know and value his work, it is worth pausing for a moment’s silence at the tomb.<\/p>\n

And indeed one may note that the village is in many regards dominated by the magnificent church that can be seen below.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

So it is also well worth pausing at to take a look at the architecture.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But this of course is not a walk designed for those who want to remember ancient English poets whose work is largely forgotten by the nation, because the scenery around the village really is the Cambridgeshire countryside at its best.<\/p>\n

And at this point I have to hand over the narrative to our venerable photographer who did indeed give us a picture that encaptured the scenery through which the walk progressed, as well as showing quite an interest in the local wild life.<\/p>\n

I shall therefore pause in my notes to allow these pictures from the area to speak for themselves, below which you will find the words of our region’s greatest poet.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n

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I am\u2014yet what I am none cares or knows;
\nMy friends forsake me like a memory lost:
\nI am the self-consumer of my woes\u2014
\nThey rise and vanish in oblivious host,
\nLike shadows in love\u2019s frenzied stifled throes
\nAnd yet I am, and live\u2014like vapours tossed \u2026<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Into the nothingness of scorn and noise,<\/div>\n
Into the living sea of waking dreams,<\/div>\n
Where there is neither sense of life or joys,<\/div>\n
But the vast shipwreck of my life\u2019s esteems;<\/div>\n
Even the dearest that I loved the best<\/div>\n
Are strange\u2014nay, rather, stranger than the rest.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I long for scenes where man hath never trod<\/div>\n
A place where woman never smiled or wept<\/div>\n
There to abide with my Creator, God,<\/div>\n
And sleep as I in childhood sweetly slept,<\/div>\n
Untroubling and untroubled where I lie<\/div>\n
The grass below\u2014above the vaulted sky.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I long for scenes where man hath never trod Pictures of the walk from Tom Dolby.\u00a0 Commentary by Tony.\u00a0 Church and John Clare images from Wikipedia. Helpston is a village of around 1000 people and is one of those places which never quite knows where it is, being at times in Northamptonshire, sometime in Huntingdon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Helpston Walk September 2022 - Peterborough Ramblers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/peterboroughramblers.co.uk\/?p=2473\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Helpston Walk September 2022 - Peterborough Ramblers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I long for scenes where man hath never trod Pictures of the walk from Tom Dolby.\u00a0 Commentary by Tony.\u00a0 Church and John Clare images from Wikipedia. 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