‘Solitary on the bare downs’, recalled Helen Thomas, ‘or in the sheltered valleys, on the ancient tracks above which the kestrel has always circled. It was his landscape of closest acquaintance, and it consoled him in the ways that religion or music consoled others. He lived in this area for fifteen years, and he walked it for more than twenty, wandering ‘far afield alone, retreading forgotten footpaths and hidden lanes’. their ridges mak flowing but infinitely variable clear lines against the sky’. East and west across ‘the south country’, he wrote, ‘go ranges of chalk hills, their sides smoothly hollowed by Nature. He took the phrase from Hilaire Belloc’s chalky poem of the same name, and used it to designate the countryside ‘south of the Thames and Severn and east of Exmoor’, including ‘the counties of Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Dorset, and part of Somerset.’ To Thomas this area was not a political or social entity, but a bio-region: constituted of chalk downs, clear-watered streams, beech hangars, and wild-flower meadows. He found, he wrote, ‘deepest ease and joy out of doors’, and of all landscapes, it was ‘the South Country’ that most deeply eased Thomas. His tours on foot – through the Welsh marches, along ancient trackways, and over the English downlands – were attempts to out-march the causes of his sadness. Depression dogged him throughout his short life, and like many melancholics he developed his own rituals of relief – the most powerful of which was walking. Walking was, for Thomas, re-creation rather than recreation. Decades before Guy Debord and his Situationists devised the idea of the dérive or ‘randomly motivated walk’ (1956) decades before Richard Long inscribed ‘A Line Made By Walking’ in a Wiltshire meadow, and aligned walking with sculpture (1967) decades before Paul Auster’s enigmatic character Peter Stillman trod the letters of the alphabet onto the Manhattan street-plan (1984), Thomas was out there, making tracks, pursuing the living and the dead, and pioneering the walk as art-act, as artefact.
#Wandering willows iintro series
He made a series of one-day walks in the design of ‘a rough circle’, ‘trusting, by taking a series of turnings to the left or a series to the right, to take much beauty by surprise and to return at last to my starting-point’. More often, he preferred to go mapless, and to follow the leads of the landscape – to ‘trace a stream up to its source in the wood’, or to be ‘guided by the hills or the sun’. Sometimes he carried a map with him, wanting to tramp for a day ‘without touching a road but to cross it’. ‘His greatest pleasure, and certainly his greatest need, was to walk and be alone’, remembered his widow, Helen. Do look out for more fragments from our books over the course of 2019 (#TollerTen).Įdward Thomas was a compulsive walker. We were fortunate, not just because Robert himself was thinking of paths and forgotten footsteps (and in particular those trodden by Edward Thomas), but because the words he returned came with a generosity of spirit that has been with us ever since, encouraging, supporting and influencing who we are today. Edward Thomas’ The South Country was one of the first books we published back in 2009, and it was to Robert Macfarlane that we turned to ask if he would introduce the book to a new generation of readers – he had recently started a series of walks that he later wove into the masterful and bestselling The Old Ways. We are also highlighting our new Giant Happy Spring die today! This die is perfect for sending happy spring wishes in a big way! This greeting fits both portrait and landscape A2 size cards.Little Toller celebrates its tenth birthday this year, so we’re delving into our archives to pick out pieces of writing that have been pivotal on our journey. Today is our showcase of Garden Before ‘n Afters and its coordinating dies! Nurture the little seeds, and they will flourish! This set of stamps features little plant sprouts and fully grown plants, seeds, a watering can, and lots of loving sentiments. We already have one place you can leave comments to win: Hello and welcome to Lawn Fawn’s March Inspiration Week! Our Spring 2022 Release with 14 new stamp sets, 24 new die sets, 4 new stencil sets, new paper collections, new cardstock and more new products are now available at your favorite store and Woohoo! This week we will continue to showcase these new products with design team projects, intro videos, and giveaways! Daily Giveaway
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