Before our bungalow was built - NOT amateur radio

This photo was taken well before our house was built. Our home (today) is in front of the windmill (see top right). When this photo was taken it was fields. It would be so good to take a peek at what our village was like at several points in the last few thousand years.

Kindness - NOT amateur radio

We live right next door to our village windmill and museum. We heard today that a very kind man from the USA who was evacuated into our village from London in 1941 has just made a very generous donation to the museum. He is now 88 years old and he still thinks Burwell is the nicest place in the world despite having widely travelled in his lifetime. What's more, one of the museum founders remembers sitting next to him at school!

See https://burwellmuseum.org.uk/ .

Our house from the air - NOT amateur radio

 

Our house is immediately to the left of the windmill (bottom right) with the white front. Our white car is in the drive. I think the photo was taken recently from a drone.

Burwell 2015 - NOT amateur radio

 

This was the sky over our village in 2015. It was a FaceBook memory yesterday. 

I was commenting yesterday that we have had very few swallows (birds) this summer, but swifts seem as plentiful. It would appear swallows are more localised. At this rate we could see no swallows within a few years.

Odds and bobs shop - NOT amateur radio

We have a shop in the village called "Tina's" that seems to sell everything. It also does dry cleaning. 

They always manage to have an interesting window display as the photo shows. 

Tree roots - NOT amateur radio

Our village, Burwell,  owns an 11 acre meadow that has Roman remains and the remains of a castle built in the reign of King Stephen about 1000 years ago. 

Children paddle in the stream below these tree roots. 

Years ago, when still privately owned, a farmer kept cows in the meadow in summer.  We used to hear them early in the morning.

Morning walk - NOT amateur radio

As usual, when it is sunny, we did a walk around the village.  This is one of our favourites. We saw several Muntjac deer. The boats (see photo) were on the banks of Burwell Lode.

Spring afternoon - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows the view towards Burwell Church yesterday afternoon.  It was a decent, if cool, spring afternoon. 

We had just returned from tea in a friend's garden. Nice to visit someone again!

Wild walk - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday we did a nice walk along Burwell Lode. We saw several marsh harriers. The photo shows where Burwell and Reach Lodes meet. Lodes are very ancient waterways that once carried important trade thousands of years ago.

Village cottages - NOT amateur radio

 

Burwell (our village) has a total mix of old and new homes. These cottages are on the main High Street. I am not sure how old these are, but I guess most date from the 1800s.

Cowfield NOT amateur radio

This meadow is owned by the village. Years ago there were cows in here that we heard every summer morning. This an ancient meadow with Roman remains (there was a Roman villa here) and the remains of a castle going back to King Stephen nearly 1000 years ago.

Quiet corner - NOT amateur radio

Since we moved to our village in 1975, it has grown quite a lot. When we came the population was just over 4000 whereas it is nearly 7000 now.

Despite this, it still feels like a village. It has some lovely quiet corners as the photo shows. Here, they have really blended new houses with the old.

Burwell church - NOT amateur radio

We have a fine old church in our village. It is currently closed. Parts of it are 1000 years old. From the top  of the tower the view is amazing. Years ago, I went regularly. My wife still attends, but not every week.

The video was made many years ago.

Old QTH

This aerial photo shows my old QTH. We moved from here about 300m. That was 7.5 years ago. My son lives in this house now. 

We now live next door to the windmill in probably the highest spot in the village.

More on our walk - NOT amateur radio

 

This collage summarises our walk today around the village. It was cold and sunny. 

Most of the snow has gone, although there are still patches in the shade.

Winter walk - NOT amateur radio

As the pavements were mostly clear of ice and snow and it was sunny, we did a nice walk around the village. It was good to be out, but I feel so giddy. 

Quiet corner - NOT amateur radio

Although our village has grown a lot, it still feels like a village and it has some lovely quiet corners. This is Mandeville, near where the British Foreign Secretary used to live. There are lots of snowdrops in flower near here.

Local church - NOT amateur radio

Our local church is very photogenic. The photo shows it in late November. 

Already at the end of December the corvids are nest building! I think these are rooks.

Village tragedy - NOT amateur radio

Almost 300 years ago there was a tragedy in our village. A puppet show was being put on in a barn. Someone locked the door. There was a fire and 78 people were killed. At the time, when the village population must have been much smaller, this must have been a real tragedy. The dead are commemorated in our churchyard.

Cowfield - NOT amateur radio

Where we used to live backed onto fields. For years, we had cattle in the fields in summer and we could hear them munching over the fence. Many years ago the 11 acre site was bought for the village by the local council. It is a real meadow and has the remains of a Roman settlement as well as a castle built nearly 1000 years ago in the time of King Stephen. We walk there often. The photo shows the field in summer. Even now we still call it the cowfield.