Tag: John Wyatt

August 30th – A grey day, but I needed a ride. It’s been a few weeks since I had a good one, what with the cold and everything else. Conditions were pleasant enough, and it was warm with a little drizzle.

I went out to Whittington, and back across the heath to Weeford. I forgot how nice Weeford is, and what a curious little marooned village it is: built as a demonstration of his architectural prowess by noted ecclesiastical architect John Wyatt, it clings to a hillside in rolling countryside bisected by the A38.

The late summer colour was nice, and the roads were peaceful.

I need more of this in my life.

September 27th – Having visited the farm shop, returned via Weeford and Little Hay. Autumn is really kicking in now, and even on this very dull, overcast day, the colours were lovely. By the drainage lagoon at Thickbroom, you’d never realise you were less than 15 metres from the A38.

The rooftops of Weeford – John Wyatt’s exemplar village, built as an advertisement of his architectural prowess – still fascinate me. From the high cemetery near the community hall, the view is commanding and beautiful.

I noted that the land north of Park Lane, between Shenstone and Little Hay is now almost totally given over to free range pigs, snorting and rooting through the brown earth. They must outnumber local residents by a healthy number, and their produce – a quantity of which I’d just bought – is fine and tasty.

I couldn’t help thinking though that if they ever got together and rose up, we’d be under porcine rule within a matter of days… perhaps Animal Farm wasn’t a satire after all.