My senses reach back through my fingers Salt, sea, ships Carrying cargo Indonesian mahogany Ivory from Africa Portuguese Port The mahogany made into balusters and newel posts Shaped for the staircase in Rainham Hall Captain John Harle’s home in 1729 Carved curlicues twisted tendrils mimicking barley my fingers caress the
Flinging back the panelled shutters Daylight pours in Motes of dust Flicker in the shadows Old wood and beeswax Gleaming dark staircase Painted friezes, rococo swags Classical mouldings Centuries rolling back Into the present, we’re merging Bringing back times past Servants and splendour Carriages, liveried horses The Groom sees to
A little, traveller bird lands on a really old tree trunk early one morning. She is looking for a new home but doesn’t know if the garden is safe. Laying on the lawn, enjoying the early morning sun is an old fox. The traveller bird knows that foxes like little
I have lived in Rainham all my life and have known of Rainham Hall for an equal length of time. I attended the nursery there as a young child in about 1949. I used to pass the hall as a child on my way to visit my grandmother. The overgrown
When people in the area find a sick or injured bird or animal they know they can get in touch with South Essex Wildlife Hospital for advice on what to do with it. There are often as many as 120 calls a day from concerned members of the public. The
Whilst disposing of some of the contents of a house that was going up for sale, the owner came across a chest that had come with the property when it had been bought. This chest was believed to have belonged to Colonel Sir Francis Whitmore as it contained items bearing
Baker Street Mill is believed to have been built in 1765, although there is evidence within the mill of the date 1762. It was not the first mill to be built on the site as there was probably one there as far back as 1674. It is the type known
There were many routes taken by the medieval pilgrim on the way to Canterbury. The one that concerns our traveller from East Anglia leaving Brentwood to follow the high ground via North and South Ockendon and cross the Mardyke via Pilgrims Lane. Â After some sort of hospitality at St Clements
Davy Down Pumping Station Interview with Steve My name is Steve and I’m the warden of Davy Down in South Ockendon. I’ve been here for 15 years so it feels like home to me now, it’s a lovely place in the countryside, hidden away in the midst of an industrial
Looking across the flat land on a hot July day, this is not my Thames Valley, I was a child 60 years ago and 60 miles to the west amongst the rolling grass of low Berkshire hills, beef cattle, hedges and hay making. Here, the ripening barley and winter wheat
Thames Chase Trust, Pike Lane
Upminster, Essex RM14 3NS
01708 642970
landofthefanns@thameschase.org.uk
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