View from the Big Hills

The first time I stumbled across Thomas Traherne was a number of years ago when I was recuperating from surgery. My partner and our children had gone off to a weekend music festival and my elderly parents were staying in my home to look after me. I was beginning to feel much better and suggested a short trip into Hereford Cathedral to take a look at the spectacular Mappa Mundi and the ancient library.    We decided to take a look around the cathedral before eating lunch in the tea room. I wandered off alone and found myself compelled towards a tiny side chapel. As I entered the chapel it was like entering the tranquility and safety of a womb. Everything became deliciously silent. My mind stilled as the sun’s light shone through the most magnificent stained glass windows I had ever seen in my life. I was quite literally dumbstruck and overwhelmed. In the space that I had entered I started sobbing with overflowing tears. I know not how long this lasted for time s...

Just outside Thomas Traherne’s Hereford, in the heart of the Welsh Marches, lies the tiny village of Kilpeck. You could miss it in a blink if you are driving into or out of Wales. However, the area known as the Welsh Marches is a strange and magical hinterland. Like many borderland areas, it is rich in its history and mythology. “The Battle of Evermore”, written and performed by Led Zeppelin and accompanied by Sandy Denny, truly captures the in-between nature of this part of Britain in a way that only few other artist have been able to. Cheltenham singer song-writer Johnny Coppin also managed to nail it with some of his music. Kilpeck is perhaps best known for its 900 year-old church which hosts the world’s most famous Sheela Na Gig. While there is little evidence to support the view, for many Sheela Na Gig represents an aspect of the pagan goddess, in full control of sex and birth, unbridled by the controlling influence of Abrahamic patriarchy. This sheela, set high ...