The Stopping Place: A Journey Through Gypsy Britain

 The Stopping Place: A Journey Through Gypsy Britain by Damian Le Bas
2018
Weight: 1.02 lbs
Method of Disposal: Giving Away

I bought this book on my last trip to England, along with too many others.  I am just trying to collect all the information I can about all the things I do not know and, of course, read anything that brings me closer to Harriet.  Not that her upbringing has much to do with Gypsy Britain.  It has very little, though people identifying themselves as Romani did stay on her grandparent's land periodically, there were horse sales, and sometimes caravans of people passing through in the North.

I have occasionally heard about gypsies.  In Russia, in England, in Ireland, in Victor Hugo.  It is not uncommon to hear a sneer along with the word.  When pressed, people will tell me about theft and people who leave trash in their wake, but these same people seem to know very little about where the people they label "gypsies" come from, what motivates them, what they find important, how they identify.  Now, clearly not all gypsies are the same or come from the same bloodlines or even countries, so why all the generalizations.  Like all other groups of people, there is so much more than the stereotypes  you were raised with.  Look around you, take a peek into history.  All I know for sure is that, if anyone claims to be able to sum up a group of people in a few sentences, you should not trust them.

I have so many questions.  This book is just a scratch on the surface, but it is a start. More to come!  I will leave this book in a lending library because you never know who might pick it up without a care or a thought and then learn something new.

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.

North and South

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
1996
Weight: 15.2 oz
Method of Disposal: Donating to AKS

This was a gift from Harriet's mother on a recent trip to the states and so I, of course, started reading it the day she left for England.  True to what I have read by other classic British women authors there was a love story between two people who absolutely misunderstood each other, talked past each other, made mistake after mistake, and the tension just grew and grew until you were about to throw the book across the room if they didn't just admit that they loved each other!  It was much more than that though.  There was an examination of class, business, labor struggle, management, strong women, human weakness, compassion, and friendship.  I found myself deeply invested and having empathy to all the characters, even the ones I initially had disdain for.  Also interesting to think about the North and South divide then and now.  I hope someone else enjoys this book as much as I did!  Thank you, Sarah!

A Handbook on Hanging

A Handbook on Hanging: Being a Short Introduction to the Fine Art of Execution by Charles Duff
1999
Weight: 7 oz
Method of Disposal: Donate or give away

This book appeared after Vallan left for Chicago so I think it was initially part of her collection. I read it and thought it was okay. I do not have strong feelings one way or the other. It is a satirical book about capital punishment. The author dedicates the book to, “The Hangmen of England and to similar Constitutional Bulwarks everywhere.”

It is the end of August. The months just fly by.