Day: May 30, 2022

Dock and Hogweed

I happen to like fjords, I think they give a lovely baroque feel to a continent.

Slartibartfast, a venerable Magrathean planetary designer in Douglas Adams’ ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’, 1978

I feel the same way as Slartibartfast about the crinkled leaf edges and the swashbuckling flamboyance of unfurling leaf-buds of curled dock. They give this common weed an air of baroque bravado.

Meanwhile back at the Hogweed

hogweed

I’ve been following the progress of this hogweed from the emerging bud two weeks ago to the first umbels last week.

Three weeks ago, on the 9th of May I could step across the herbage at the edge of the car park to draw the unfurling bracken and garlic mustard. They’ve now been overtaken by dock, nettle and hogweed, what you might call rank vegetation except that today, after a short shower of rain (during which I continued drawing under the shelter of a large umbrella) there was deliciously fresh smell of spring vegetation.

Betty

Barbara’s mum, Betty Ellis, would have been 100 years old today. Here she is in 2010 remembering the birth of he son John at Manygates Maternity Hospital during an air raid in 1941.

In some ways Europe hasn’t progressed much since then.

Betty delivering a Christmas cake to Barbara’s dad, William at his army camp in Sheffield.

Just after he was born the Air Raid Siren went, I asked where my baby was, they said he had been taken to the shelter, but I said could I go too, but they said no, as I had to stay in bed.

The [bomb] that dropped down Thornes when I was in Manygates Mum told me after, that it lifted her from her chair to the other side of the room.

We had a few bombs drop, one doodlebug dropped in Aunt Annie’s spare bedroom it did a bit of damage but not much, I used to go and clean for her and I didn’t like going in that room after.

Another dropped in Ossett, Mum and I had gone up to see Aunt Sarah Elizabeth and Uncle Wilson, Mum was in the kitchen with Aunt Sarah and I went into the garden with Uncle Wilson, we heard the Plane then we heard the Bomb coming down, I ran into the house, it knocked Uncle Wilson off his feet into the side of his shed, but he wasn’t hurt but we were all shaken up.

It made you realise what People in London and places [were going through] where they were getting that all the time.

Betty Ellis (1922-2012)
Betty and Joanne
Betty and granddaughter Joanne

Barbara walked around Newmillerdam this morning with John, watching a tern, the first they’ve seen this year, hovering about near the outlet. I stayed by the car park and drew hogweed and curled dock.