These are challenging times, but you are strong.
You have the emotional will to get through this.
Be brave, take one step at a time, and you will find the hurdles are not as big at they once seemed.
Strength
Category Archives: Animals
Tangled Web
Oh, what a tangled web we weave…
Time allows us to lay down roots, to make connections, to insert ourselves into others’ lives.
But what is our true purpose in this? To divide and conquer? Or to become whole?
Patience
Patience is key.
It may be frustrating, but it will be worth the wait.
Your moment will come.
Flight
Sometimes others will challenge you to reach the goal you’re aiming for.
They won’t necessarily get there before you, so go for it.
You have as much right to the success as they do.
Dragon
Don’t rise to arguments.
Respect others beliefs, even if they go against your own.
When a battle ensues, take a step back, remain objective and find peace.
Your inner calm will see you through.
CWG: Gunner Thomas Holloway
Thomas Charles Holloway was born in Chatham, Kent in 1893. The fourth of five children, his parents were Joseph, a domestic coachman, and Caroline Holloway.
By the time of the 1911 census, Thomas had left school and was working in a corn warehouse.
Thomas presented a bit of a challenge when I was researching his history.
His military records show that he enlisted on 31st December 1914, signing up to the Royal Field Artillery. However, Gunner Holloway’s service records show that he was posted on 9th January 1915, before being discharged as medically unfit just a week later. The records confirm that he served for 16 days.
The medical attestation states that he was discharged because of cardiac dilation and hypertrophy, a systolic murmur and dyspnoea, all heart-related conditions.
Despite only serving for just over a fortnight, he was afforded a Commonwealth War Grave when he died.
Searching the local newspapers of the time, a bigger story was unveiled.
The death of Bombardier Thomas Holloway, aged 24, of the RFA… occurred in a hospital at Cambridge. He was kicked by a horse in the course of his training, nearly two years ago, and had practically been on the sick list ever since. On recovering from the effects of the accident, he was seized with spotted fever at Seal, and ultimately succumbed to paralysis of the brain.
East Kent Gazette: Saturday 21st July 1917
The discrepancies between the original discharge and the newspaper report are intriguing. Either way, this was a young life cut far too short: he was 24 years old.
Gunner Thomas Holloway lies at rest in St Margaret’s Churchyard, in his home town of Rainham in Kent.
For the stories of more of the fallen from the Great War, take a look at my Commonwealth War Graves page.
Confusion and Madness
Our lives can be so busy sometimes that we don’t have the time to stop and think about the things that are going.
In this face paced world, speed and efficiency can lead to mistakes, stress and anxiety.
Slow down; take a breath; you can only do what you can do.
And that is alright.
Interconnected
We lead our separate lives, day to day, blinkered against what is going on around us.
But we are inextricably linked to those around us, even if those connections aren’t immediately visible.
Look up from your life, take off the blinkers and see what else is going on around you.
A-Z of Somerset: Kingweston
Okay, so a slight hiccup in the A-Z proceedings in that there is no village (or town, or city) in Somerset that begins with the letter J. So, I will skip over that, and look at K instead.
And Kingweston is the stereotype for the evolution of a village.
It’s the end of the 11th Century. You’ve supported the winning side and so, as a reward, you are given the manor of Chinwardestune. It’s good farming land, and you have a nice house there. Over time – and changes of ownership – the manor has grown strong: you have a large house, alongside which you have built a church, there are farm buildings and cottages for your workers.
And that’s it. This village, with a population of less than 150, is little more than a farm, the attached manor house and its religious building and workers cottages.
The cottages are very picturesque; higgledy-piggledy on the lane up to the manor house and farm.
Walk up the main road and you encounter the Manor House. The barrier between those that had and those that had not. A high wall rings its lands, through the trees you get a glimpse of the grandeur within, but a glimpse is all you’re going to get.
The current Kingweston House was built in the 1800s by the long-term residents, the Dickinson family. In 1946 it was bought by Millfield School and has been used by them ever since.
The Church of All Saints is of a similar age to the manor house. Set at the upper end of the village, it is an ideal space for contemplation, as it overlooks the countryside towards Glastonbury Tor.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission suggests that Major Francis Arthur Dickinson is buried in the churchyard and, while I was unable to find his headstone, he is commemorated on the Roll of Honour in the church itself.
The plaque mentions other members of the Dickinson family who died during the Great War:
Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Carey Dickinson, of the Somerset Light Infantry and King’s African Rifles, died in Dar-es-Salaam in 1918.
Lieutenant George Barnsfather Dickinson of the East Lancashire Regiment fell at Ypres in May 1915.
The village has, understandably, a community feel to it. Even though the farm workers have move on and been replaced by wealthier country folk, Kingweston has a heart and a draw to it.
Plan
We all have a plan, an end point we want to reach, a goal we want to accomplish.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, so prioritise the small steps needed to achieve your dreams.
You have a point to aim for, so let that be the light that guides you through.
CKPonderingsToo 