Somerset Levels

“Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.”
Lao Tzu
Spent the morning having a wander around Street. Although we didn’t visit today, the view of Glastonbury Tor at the approach to Street was striking, and a reminder that much of the land around here is flat and low lying, prone to flooding and being submerged for extended periods. The view of the Tor emphasised this as it was one of the few ‘hills’ noticeable during our travels today. The river Parrett was quite high, the arches of the bridge were mostly full, and many of the surrounding low lying fields were flooded.
Until this visit to Somerset I hadn’t realised how widespread the Quaker influence had been in this part of the world. While I knew about the Cadbury connection from my time as a student in Birmingham, studying management styles and the Bournville connection etc (I passed there each time I travelled to/from Birmingham by train), I hadn’t realised the Clarks were Quakers. Even wandering around the shopping outlet and Street I got a sense of their influence, from the green open spaces between work places to the housing styles. As I drove past modern housing developments later the cramped squeezing together of houses to maximise profit was all too evident and a real contrast, a reminder of sound principles forgotten in the scramble for money.