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Brockenhurst Revisited
Sep. 2nd, 2004 01:03 amI was so so so so so very very wrong. Brockenhurst turned out to be adorable.
I’ve spent the last 2 days at a crumbly old manor house located in an equestrian park, itself located deep within the New Forest. I’d been in the area once before with some very fond memories of the place. Hence, returning there has inevitably extended the love affair further. Does anyone else get a feeling that they sometimes step into a completely “other world” or “parallel universe” where everything is somehow different, in a not-quite definable sense? It was like that. The manor itself was something from a long lost era, and was suffused with a quaintness and eccentricity of its past. That friendly smell of the old wood. The paintings absolutely everywhere, filling the walls and even the doors - bedrooms were named according to the Countess whose painting hung from each door (often in various states of...um...undress....). Old books everywhere, mainly foreign with the dust of centuries. Large wood chests formed tables, surrounded by deep comfortable leather chairs. Even an old out-of-tune piano, which my boss attempted a violin concerto on (sadly lacking the violin...). The beds were large, cosy and welcoming and to my delight there was a large toy cat named Charlie greeting me on my bed upon arrival. Supposedly there to guard my door as a kind of sweet do-not-disturb sign, i couldn’t bear to put Charlie outside and he came to bed with me and comforted me on the first night when I got a bit panicky over the full moon (as I sometimes seem to do....odd that). But yes, a manor house with cuddle cat toys on all the beds - wonderfully eccentric! The moon was big and bright over the forest, with a whole carpet of stars in the heavens at night. During the day, whilst not discussing world domination plans, on several occasions I found the time to slip out into the forest, to walk alone amongst the old trees (It may be called the New Forest, but it is far from new), to breath in the scents of the wild flowers, and get lost in the early morning mist. I picked the largest and juiciest wild blackberries to indulge in - they were so sweet and so fresh. There were many horses and ponies to say hello to, in fields, stables and being ridden. I felt free and happy and relaxed with the world again. I’m sure my reading the whole of Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited during my stay there deeply affected how I’ve been reacting to everything, and it somehow seemed appropriate. A whole different world. I touched it. I was there.
Returning to London after that breath of fresh air has been most disturbing. It smells wrong. I feel trapped and saddened by this intrusion of reality again. I am in a state of extreme distress. My plan now is to lose myself in a new book and hopefully drift off to sleep forgetting about where I am.
I’ve spent the last 2 days at a crumbly old manor house located in an equestrian park, itself located deep within the New Forest. I’d been in the area once before with some very fond memories of the place. Hence, returning there has inevitably extended the love affair further. Does anyone else get a feeling that they sometimes step into a completely “other world” or “parallel universe” where everything is somehow different, in a not-quite definable sense? It was like that. The manor itself was something from a long lost era, and was suffused with a quaintness and eccentricity of its past. That friendly smell of the old wood. The paintings absolutely everywhere, filling the walls and even the doors - bedrooms were named according to the Countess whose painting hung from each door (often in various states of...um...undress....). Old books everywhere, mainly foreign with the dust of centuries. Large wood chests formed tables, surrounded by deep comfortable leather chairs. Even an old out-of-tune piano, which my boss attempted a violin concerto on (sadly lacking the violin...). The beds were large, cosy and welcoming and to my delight there was a large toy cat named Charlie greeting me on my bed upon arrival. Supposedly there to guard my door as a kind of sweet do-not-disturb sign, i couldn’t bear to put Charlie outside and he came to bed with me and comforted me on the first night when I got a bit panicky over the full moon (as I sometimes seem to do....odd that). But yes, a manor house with cuddle cat toys on all the beds - wonderfully eccentric! The moon was big and bright over the forest, with a whole carpet of stars in the heavens at night. During the day, whilst not discussing world domination plans, on several occasions I found the time to slip out into the forest, to walk alone amongst the old trees (It may be called the New Forest, but it is far from new), to breath in the scents of the wild flowers, and get lost in the early morning mist. I picked the largest and juiciest wild blackberries to indulge in - they were so sweet and so fresh. There were many horses and ponies to say hello to, in fields, stables and being ridden. I felt free and happy and relaxed with the world again. I’m sure my reading the whole of Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited during my stay there deeply affected how I’ve been reacting to everything, and it somehow seemed appropriate. A whole different world. I touched it. I was there.
Returning to London after that breath of fresh air has been most disturbing. It smells wrong. I feel trapped and saddened by this intrusion of reality again. I am in a state of extreme distress. My plan now is to lose myself in a new book and hopefully drift off to sleep forgetting about where I am.
