Empty Fields
The fields are empty now.
Silent in the sunlight,
The wheat and barley
Grow without the oversight of man.
Or so it seems to travellers
In this quiet Suffolk land.
The season's start
Brings out the plough.
Or at the harvest
Then the combine
Works the fields.
One man alone
Within his windowed perch.
I saw them once,
The horses,
Breasting a rise
At the headland next to the road.
In the fifties, it was,
The last time I saw the team,
The ploughman stopping them,
Talking to my friend.
He had this notion that all was ending.
Everything that he and I had known
Not so long ago,
When we were boys.
Milk dipped from the churn,
Weary horses ambling home,
Saturdays in the garden,
The wheelbarrow full
From the black earth,
Fecund beyond today's imagining.
And he was right.
Almost everything has gone
Except the fields themselves.
The ploughs, the drills,
The gatherings of the crop
Still go on.
But now what sights and sounds
Living in our memories
Are lost forever.
From "A Kind Of Heaven" by Richard Maslen
Some Favourite Websites For January 2025:
Valley Farm – A large family farmhouse in Walberswick
A Grade II listed farmhouse for up to 11, plus 2 cots, with amazing views across the marshes to the sea.
Green Haven Holidays - Wheelwrights Cottage – Self Catering accommodation for up to three people + two dogs, in Rumburgh near Halesworth
Just 500 metres to the dog-friendly CAMRA village pub! This beamed cottage has been beautifully modernised to provide one-bedroom accommodation with kingsize bed, plus additional single bed if required. WiFi. Front garden plus rear courtyard with outdoor furniture. Parking for two cars. Pets welcome at no extra charge. Short breaks available. Close to Halesworth and within 20 minutes drive to Southwold on the Suffolk Heritage Coast.
Singtong Neeyom Thai Restaurant – Delicious authentic Thai Cuisine
Take a look at Singtong Neeyom Thai Restaurant in the centre of Halesworth, for a range of delicious and skillfully prepared Thai dishes created by their own native Thai, Piek.
St James Village Orchard – A beautifully well kept natural space cared for and maintained by the community
At the western edge of the small Suffolk village of St James South Elmham is a triangular shaped field of about one acre, bounded on two sides by Metfield Road and Common Road and known as the Greshaw Green Enclosure. The St James Village Orchard Project has transformed the enclosure into a flourishing community orchard.
Rookyard Cottage, Holton – Eco-friendly self-catering cottage near Halesworth with private heated indoor swimming pool available
Set in over two acres Valley Farm offers two self-catering cottages, Rookyard Cottage and Swallow Barn, both with eco-friendly features and each sleeping up to four people + cot. Rated AA 4 Stars. WiFi. Private heated indoor swimming pool available. Ten miles from seaside at Southwold. Pets not accepted.