Life – Journeys of Heart and Mind

A walk in the park

We had a quiet month in June, with no family visits and it was, frankly, too hot to walk any distance during the day. Instead I took to strolling around the village after dark when conditions were much cooler … I planted a Philadelphus in the back garden to help shade the east facing bi-fold doors to keep the house cooler in hot summers.

The park, woodland and the Octagon

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Blast from the past – Jun 2026

Dad would have been 100-years-old on 4th! June was a hot, dry month, setting the pattern for the entire summer in the Cotswolds in 2026. On 19th I walked into Cirencester Park for a short visit, and took this photo of one of the many tracks and footpaths that connects the straight rides and small roads threading through the woodland here. Down at the end you get a glimpse of a curious building. When I was a child it always called ‘The Octagon’, though some modern maps call it ‘The Heptagon’. The shape is more complex than either of those names suggests. It has six large, arched faces with two more smaller faces, the whole topped by a seven-sided slate roof. Strictly, it should be defined as an irregular octagon with a heptagonal roof. Most unusual!

The following day I managed to get this photo of a Gatekeeper butterfly on ivy leaves. I could have done better with an SLR camera with a telephoto lens, but all I had with me was my trusty, old Pixel 7 phone and this was the best image I could capture.

The final image for this month is meadowsweet, a fragrant wildflower, closely related to the garden Astilbe. This patch was growing alongside Riverside Walk not far from Gloucester Street.

We had a quiet month in June, with no family visits and it was, frankly, too hot to walk any distance during the day. Instead I took to strolling around the village after dark when conditions were much cooler. We made a trip to the recycling centre, which always reminds me of clearing ‘Churnside’ in 2006. I planted a Philadelphus in the back garden to help shade the east facing bi-fold doors to keep the house cooler in hot summers.

JHM: I reposted Loving more fully and widely; and wrote APEST in Jesus . World events: In Barcelona, the blessing ceremony of the Sagrada Família‘s tallest tower was held, 100 years after the death of the architect; and Elon Musk became the first US dollar trillionaire with the initial public offering of SpaceX.

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Churn flood plain

Large White

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Dexter calf and mother

And finally, here we are back in Beth and Paz’s garden where we found comfortable places to sit in the shade in what was a very warm day. Paz is enjoying a slice of a spectacular Bakewell tart cooked by Fernlea earlier. She is an enthusiastic, ambitious and very accomplished cook.

Dexter calf and cow

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Blast from the past – May 2026

Walking home from town in early May I passed a field of Dexter cows with their young calves. They are an interesting breed, much smaller than most and usually entirely black in colour; there’s also a ‘Red Dexter’ which is a mid brown colour. These cattle originated in County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. We see these unusual farm animals every year in fields either side of the Gloucester Road between Stratton and Cirencester.

Later in the month we took the train up to York to visit the family. In the photo we’re about to enjoy a picnic by the river. You can see Heidi (the dog), Debbie, Donna, and Sara working on her laptop; Paz is lying on the grass, reading a book. We were sitting right by the Millenium Bridge and the Professor was blowing bubbles. Not all Profs do this, but really they all should in my opinion. No exceptions! Mero’s birthday came round in due course too, twenty now!

The next image is of Debbie’s wildflower meadow garden a little south of York. She maintains this space to encourage not just wild flowers, but also bumble bees, butterflies and other wildlife which in recent years has been suffering heavy losses due to modern, more efficient farming methods.

JHM: I asked why we use the term church at all; and wrote about the Bingham Library in Cirencester. World events: The United Arab Emirates left OPEC, ending six decades of membership; and The Eurovision Song Contest was held in Vienna and won by Bulgaria.

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An old castle made new

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Great-grandpa’s front door

On the way around I visited the single remaining Neolithic barrow that seems untouched and is topped by some trees. The photo shows the barrow and there were some good views of Cirencester to enjoy as well.

10 Tower Street, Cirencester

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Blast from the past – APR 2026

Debbie, Sara, and Aidan drove down from Thorganby to visit us. It’s a long journey for them, they arrived in the evening of 5th April, and just as it was getting dark we had a power cut so had to get out battery powered lamps and some candles. Eventually the power returned, but went off again for shorter periods twice more before bedtime. On 6th we walked to the town centre and had lunch in Jacks courtyard garden. Debbie wanted to see the Masonic Hall and flats and Minerva Villa so we took a look at those old family places on 7th, also taking in 10 Tower Street where my grandfather was born. In the afternoon we walked out along the Thames and Severn Canal to the North Wilts Canal junction and the rebuilt bridge. Then in the evening they were heading back north for the long trek home. Lovely to see them, though.

Meredith turns twenty in May, a major landmark with Aidan to follow soon after. Twenty-one was the big birthday when I was their age, but today eighteen is the bigger celebration of becoming an adult so twenty seems a bit betwixt and between.

In March I discovered where my great-grandfather, Edward Jefferies, had lived. And in April I took this photo of the front door – 10 Tower Street. Here it is, the door has clearly dropped over the decades and been trimmed repeatedly at the bottom to fit. Looking at this view I can imagine Edward knew the door and the pattern of the stonework really well. My grandfather lived here for a while as a child so he’d have recognised it from this photo too. What a strange thought!

I discovered a footpath across the north-eastern side of Tar Barrow Field and as I’d never walked it before I felt it was time to put that right. On the way around I visited the single remaining Neolithic barrow that seems untouched and is topped by some trees. The photo shows the barrow and there were some good views of Cirencester to enjoy as well.

JHM: I wrote about the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus; and the Bingham Library in Cirencester. World events: NASA’s Artemis II mission took humans farther from Earth than ever before; and Israel launched a series of airstrikes across Lebanon.

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Canal walk 4 – The Ocean to Stroud

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A foggy day in Stratton

Tower Street is where my great grandfather Edward lived, and later, my Uncle John. The building just visible on the right hand edge of the photo is now flats, though built originally as John Jefferies & Sons’ horticultural warehouse on the site of Tower Street Nursery, still in use until around 1980.

A foggy view along Baunton Lane

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Blast from the past – Mar 2026

We had some foggy weather in March, by no means all the time, but the main photo shows part of Baunton Lane in Stratton, looking west. It was the lowest visibiity we saw during the month, on 4th March, Other days varied from a lighter kind of mistiness to completely clear.

The world is a different place on days like these, even sounds seem more muffled though I suspect that’s a mental impression rather than a real experienced difference.

Meanwhile, after a long, dry summer in 2025, we’d had sufficient winter rain that the water levels in the Churn were back to normal. The photo on the left shows a section of the river running south towards the camera, more or less parallel with Gloucester Street and Abbey Way.

On 21st March Donna and I drove out to visit Basildon Park in Berkshire, a lovely National Trust property that was lovingly restored after the Second World War from derelict condition. Both the interior and exterior of this old house are stunning and very interesting to visit.

JHM: I posted Life always wins out; and Leading the sheep. World events: The US nuclear submarine USS Charlotte sank the Iranian warship IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean, 140 sailors died; and OpenAI announced that their flagship Sora app and API would be shut down.

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Churn flooding

Cirencester Hospital

Life will find a way

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Museums and broken Jars

We visited one of our favourite places during the month, Batsford Arboretum near Moreton-in-Marsh. The daffodils were out and we enjoyed a look around this familiar place. Our Westonbirt membership card gets us free access at Batsford as well.

Western night sky from Stratton

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Blast from the past – Feb 2026

Donna’s Dad, Tony, would have been 88 on 1st February, he was a bit of a star in terms of DIY (unlike me). The photo shows the western sky on 6th February, the remaining light has not faded completely, even at 20:47 when I took the photo on my phone. The bright ‘star’ in the upper-left is actually the planet Jupiter, and the dog star (Sirius) is just above the trees. Orion is in the centre with his belt of three stars, and the little triangle above and to the right of Orion is the Hyades star cluster.

Donna ordered jars of stewed apple pulp but it was badly packed and mishandled and arrived as a messy box full of broken glass, soggy labels, and unusable pulp. Four jars had survived. She’d ordered these several times before and they’d been just fine. Amazon replaced the goods but the replacement arrived in the same condition. The third attempt was in good shape, however.

We also travelled to Oxford for a day later in the month and looked around the Museum of Natural History and the Pitt Rivers Museum. They were both very crowded because it was half-term and there were a great many families exploring both the town and the museums.

JHM: I posted Guests and another move, part 6 or a series; and A large bookshop about Blackwells in Oxford. World events: The 2026 Winter Olympics were held in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy; and Israel and the United States attacked Iran, starting the Iran war and causing the closure of the Straight of Hormuz.

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Cirencester at night

A ‘Cycle Man’

Category: Life

A walk in the park

Blast from the past – Jun 2026

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Dexter calf and mother

Blast from the past – May 2026

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Great-grandpa’s front door

Blast from the past – APR 2026

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A foggy day in Stratton

Blast from the past – Mar 2026

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Museums and broken Jars

Blast from the past – Feb 2026

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