Our Gt.grandparents once here exchanged vows
when starting their life -tending both crops ,and cows,
tilling the land -and seeds to be sown
crops to be gathered -and fields to be mown.
Narrow lanes -hedgerows full of flowers,
arms of trees,their canopies forming bowers,
Strange sounding names of villages we pass
and children laughing -leaving their last class.
Times were,when our families too once roamed these lanes,
few cars to worry then -and occasional steam trains,
a time of leisure - yet hard times too
for families were large - and pleasures few.
Some we have traced -'aft all these years
still, standing now- despite all our fears,
one's,under water so deep -would never be found
but in words still recalled -and manuscripts bound.
The kindness of folk on our 'family trail'
now newly found friends - we just cannot fail,
more records collected - and memories too,
It's a week to remember for both me - and you.
Lynn Ball
Bishops Cleeve, Cheltenham.
2003