Rocks and Rain, Reason and Romance

Rocks and Rain, Reason and Romance By David Howe
2019
Weight: 8 oz
Method of disposal: Lending Library

I purchased this book the last time Harriet and I went to England.  Not only do I find the place where Harriet grew up in beautiful,  but there is also a sort of magic in thinking about us both growing up on either side of the ocean, living such different lives. Learning about the Lakes and Northern England just feels like one more way to help me understand my wife and, if that’s not true, then maybe it will give me a snippet of information to impress her mom with on some random day! So, win win, really.

The author tries to pack a lot in a small book, but I appreciate it. He seems to ultimately be primarily interested in the literature from and about the Lake District, but he also discusses science, geology, conservation, etc. Here are some things I have learned:

-It has some of the highest rainfall of all the UK.

-A mere is, indeed, a lake.

-There are assorted, ancient, stone circles dotted throughout England, including Castlerigg Stone Circle.

-There are 16 recognized lakes in the Lake District and some decent sized tarns (pools).

Ok, I realize that I’m impressing no one right about now. Let me try again.

-The lakes get as deep as 250 feet (Wastwater).

-I have a need to go see Blea Water in the High Street Fells.

-More than I know how to relay here on the authors; Wordsworth, Radcliffe, Ruskin, Coleridge, Potter, Ransome, and Martineau.

-It was only 7,500 years ago that Britons really began to inhabit the coast and lower valleys of the Lake District. 

-The Lake District was particularly important in the Stone Age and beyond for the production of axes due to tbd unique stone found there.  From greenstone to bronze to Iron.

-“many...major invasions of Britain have left very little genetic trace.  We see little genetic evidence of the Roman conquest, nor of the Danish Viking control of large parts of England from the 9th Century...Nor of the Norman Conquest.  These invasions have had a major impact on our history and culture, but not on our gene pool. The inference is clear. In each case there must have been control by a ruling elite, backed by superior military power, but not large-scale settlement...” Professor Peter Donnelly 

-Water flows from the Lakes all the way to Manchester via gravity (no pumps!). It takes a day and a half for water to get from Thirlmere go Manchester around 80 miles away.

-There are two villages now underwater. One of them being Mardale, which is currently emerging. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2766498/Lake-District-s-Atlantis-revealed-A-village-drowned-1930s-reappears-driest-September-half-century.html

Okay, I will stop boring you to death but, the point is, there is a lot of history, art, philosophy, geography I need to catch up on and this was a great starter. Now, it is much to late, and Harriet has been asleep for hours. I guess that it is time for me to go lay beside her and just enjoy the closeness until tomorrow when I bore her, like I have you, with details of her homeland.