Poetry Path - July

I have known for a while about a Poetry Path around Kirkby Stephen, but wasn't sure about the details. Willllywynbedw reminded me about it recently and eventually I found a booklet describing the whole thing.

Apparently it was devised as a way of celebrating the landscape of the Eden Valley, after the Foot and Mouth epidemic, and it was to highlight the relationship between traditional farming with the familiar landscape and its wildlife. It was opened in 2004.

The Poetry Path is a circular walk by the River Eden at Kirkby Stephen with twelve short poems carved on stone blocks, one for each month, covering a year in the life of a hill farmer. As well as the carved poem there is also a small plaque with an appropriate image.

As it happens, the poem for July features Haymaking and Silage. So, after yesterday's blip, I thought I would search this one out. It was tricky to photograph and I had a few versions. Eventually I chose this one, but there are more here: a picture of the stone in its setting, a close up of the lovely carving and a picture of the image. The latter is a depiction of traditional haymaking, but is very faded.

The poem

Silage. Tractor incises the first
green furrow. Skilful geometrician,
the driver judges an arc of weather.