Culm valley

 

22.4 miles, elevation gain 442m

Another cycle ride, this time exploring the upper Culm valley. I had sort of hoped to find the source but turned back too soon, about 2 miles too soon in fact. The source is somewhere in the distance of my first photo. Beyond those yellow buttercups.

Besides, river sources are overrated and usually disappointing, that's if you can even find them. But it was a glorious day and the Culm valley is so very beautiful.

Turning into Hidewood Lane

Reduced to a small stream at my extremity

The bike that brought me here, thanks J!

A typical Devonshire road

Back via Tiverton Parkway station

No scar?

This 1961 film, narrated by Elisabeth Elliot, tells the story of five missionaries killed in Ecuador in 1956. It includes excerpts filmed at the time and this knowledge more than makes up for the poor picture quality. There are  more recent films on the subject so, if you want better quality, albeit dramatisations - just search Youtube. 

Back then budget film-shows were typically distributed on 16mm acetate stock and, at around 12 years old, I was intrigued as much by the projector setup as by the film itself or its plot. But in this case it was very much the plot which made an impact on me. So much so that I cannot now listen to Sibelius' Finlandia or sing the hymn the missionaries sung before embarking on their last trip without it bringing back poignant memories and tear-jerking emotions.

We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!

We go not forth alone against the foe;

Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,

We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.

Yes, in Thy Name, O Captain of salvation!

In Thy dear Name, all other names above;

Jesus our Righteousness, our sure Foundation,

Our Prince of glory and our King of love.

We go in faith, our own great weakness feeling,

And needing more each day Thy grace to know:

Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing,

“We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.”

We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!

Thine is the battle, Thine shall be the praise;

When passing through the gates of pearly splendour,

Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days.

You or I may not agree with all that they believed - it matters not - let no one dare question their commitment or make light of the ultimate sacrifice they made for the sake of those tribal people. Like that woman in the Bible, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, their actions will be told in memory of them. In Jim's own words He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot loose.

Both Jim and Elisabeth often quoted the poem by Amy Carmichael. Here is Elisabeth's testimony at the 1996 Urbana, Illinois Christian conference:

Hast thou no scar?

No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?

I hear thee sung as mighty in the land;

I hear them hail thy bright, ascendant star.

Hast thou no scar?

Hast thou no wound?

Yet I was wounded by the archers; spent,

Leaned Me against a tree to die; and rent

By ravening beasts that compassed Me, I swooned.

Hast thou no wound?

No wound? No scar?

Yet, as the Master shall the servant be,

And piercèd are the feet that follow Me.

But thine are whole; can he have followed far

Who hast no wound or scar?

Do I bear wounds or scars? None physical: I have avoided them so far, but plenty inside: misgivings, disillusionments, hurt by and loosing trust in friends, prayers long unanswered. I am of course not alone in this. It seems that the older one grows the more unsatisfactory and unresolved "baggage" one accumulates. Like a Windows PC that, through use, gets more and more bogged down to the point where sometimes the best solution is to buy a newer model.

Chapter titles are as much a part of a book as the body text. The last chapter of The Silver Chair is titled "The Healing of Harms". How I long for this. For all the missed opportunities, for all my unkind words, for all the time I have wasted on unimportant things, for the sickness and poverty that I see so rife in the world to be resolved. That it might be true that God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. - he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new."

Sidmouth

Thanks to my sister-in-law's loaning me her bike I decided to check out Sidmouth, it being the nearest seaside and for some reason that was reason enough...

39.5 miles, 1007m height gain

Given that I was no more than 5 minutes or so stationary in Sidmouth, I regret I cannot recommend the place. It seemed to me that it was a typical, rather tired looking British seaside resort. And resort equals tourists and tourists are anathema to me. What I strongly wanted to do was to cast aside the bike (but what would I say if it had been pinched?) and explore those red cliff-tops. My map confirms there is a coastal foot-path up there somewhere.  Or, had it been warmer, to plunge into the sea at some suitably distanced spot.

Looking East

Looking West from the promenade East end

The river Sid (what a name!)

The weir was in a park, complete with bike-way, that followed the river for several miles. When I stopped to take my photo a passer-by informed me that I had "just missed the otters". Had I been a few minutes earlier...?  Clearly my 5 minutes at the sea front was excessive. It seemed a strange way to great a total stranger, and reminded me of the time, long ago, when my daughter announced that she had almost seen a fox. 

Summit near Hembury on the way back

Woodbine Farm

10.9 miles, 5mph, 214m gain

I'm back in Devon along my favourite Culm valley water meadows!  This time via a new footpath segment from Hunkin Wood (marked Five Fords on the map) to Woodbine Farm. A path not well worn and turning into what was essentially a muddy stream: good at least that I was bare-foot, but probably not to be repeated in a hurry.

Bluebells on the way to Woodbine Farm

Little sign of the path as it crossed meadows

The path-cum-stream, foot-deep mud in places

Culmstock bridge, my furthest point

River Culm

My water meadows: the flora

and the fauna

Cool farm work

Me

 

Rhodes must fall part 2

I refer to my previous post and to yesterday's news announcement that, although the commission supported the statue's removal, it will in fact remain in place for the time being because it would be too expensive to remove it. Which comes across as rather a lame excuse even though I was and still am in favour of leaving things be. Because you cannot change history by merely deleting all reference to it.

It was as an Oriel alumni, I suppose, that I received a long email from the Commission of Inquiry the opening of which I quote below (click on to enlarge), and...

...which ended with a link to the even more verbose full report. The amount of effort and associated expense that must have gone into this conclusion defies my imagination but already the campaigners for the removal have reacted in dismay.

So once again, does my own opinion to leave the statue and associated memorabilia in place (but by all means decorate them with an explanation, for example via a bronze plaque placed at street level, of our present understanding of Rhodes' political agenda), and the education which I received and still enjoy the fruit of and which might have been in some part made possible by Rhodes' endeavours, make me in some way culpable?

Floreat Oriel!