The curious mind

 

“i wonder who has walked here before me”

This is something I frequently ask myself. When I’m in a town or city, but especially when in a woodland space. An open field. By a wild river bank.

If you have ever wondered this, then me and you would get on just fine. Even more questions bounce around my head when like the picture above, I’m in an area with archaeological evidence, that shows people have been there for thousands of years. In the case of the picture above, it has approx 5000-6000 years of history dating back to the bronze age. Every possibility that it could go beyond that too.

As I stood looking down this valley, which is a great defensive position, I wondered, how many battles took place here between conflicting tribes? Did the Romans face much adversary when they first laid eyes upon the ancient hill fort that exists? Did the occupiers see the far superior force and run? Or did they stand strong and defend what was theirs?

Am I the only one to wonder these things?

The English Author Samuel Johnson described curiosity beautifully.

“the thirst of the soul”

I really like that.

Be curious in life. Ask questions, even if only to yourself. There is always room for learning. There is always room for growing. There is no limit to how broad our knowledge can be or should be.

Wittenham Clumps, Acient Hill Fort

Where I live in South Oxfordshire, we have the Wittenham Clumps. These are two chalk hills with a history dating back to the Bronze Age (3000BC - 1200BC). One of these has an Iron Age Hill Fort on top too.

From what I have read online, the clumps refer to the wooded areas on top of each hill. The correct name is the Sinodun Hills.

They are a natural landmark that can be seen from miles around. In fact, we refer to them, to our kids as the “Nearly Home Clumps”. No Matter which direction we come home from, you can be sure to see them.
They make for a great walk with stunning views around South Ofordshire and beyond.

Ever since we moved to the area, I’ve been drawn to photographing them… They really suit landscape, of which I’m no expert in but I do try to document them. Its hard to photograph its history from the ground but I think it could be a small project to do so.

Here are some recent images of the Wittenham Clumps


Devils Quoits, Oxfordshire

This morning, me and my son made a short trip to, The Devils Quoits. The Devil's Quoits is a prehistoric stone circle located in Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire. The circle is believed to have been constructed during the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, around 4000 years ago.

I’m no expert on this site but it appears to have been restored. On google maps, it looks like there was a WWII Airbase built on the location, and one of the runways appears to have gone straight through. A quick bit of research shows that there was a fomer RAF Airfield there, RAF Stanton Harcourt. A training airfield for heavy RAF Bombers. Always good learn more of our history.

I’ve wanted to visit since we moved to the area almost 3 years ago, but we’ve just never got around to it, so here are a few images of the stones, my son and one frame that he took of me… A rare thing for me to be in the frame but he insisted!



With my huge interest in history, I’ve hads a thought for a new project so stay tuned for updates!

Cheers!