On Returning to Gullworthy

its all true folks .. every word of it ..

On Returning to Gullworthy

There is an old stone bridge,

somewhere

way over yonder, that still

crosses our Tamar ..

Some way before she reaches

weirhead and where

the salmon, still leap in threes ..

There is also a hovel,

well hidden behind brambles

and bracken,

where old Betsy Drury once

lived and cast spells ..

I note there is too, a derelict

cowshed still

barely standing and where

more than once,

we played doctors and nurses,

in old Dodges field ..

Oh’ my word folks, it feels I’ve

been away for years ..

Yet in spite of all that, I think

I might just have

caught sight of her recently ..

Still wearing a smile,

an Afghan, her beads and her flares ..

 

 

 

Author's Note

5 cottages, an old church, a school that has seen better days and old Dodges cowshed .. we lived at number five .. Betsy Drury was a healer, some said she was a witch .. there are primroses in what was her garden all year round ..

Reviews

[Chris Shaw]

You always run the risk if you return, that everything would have changed beyond recognition. You are fortunate to find that it is still as you remembered it. Gullworthy and the Tamar must have been a wonderful place to have a childhood home. So the ghost of Betty Drury lingers, (as it should). It is fitting that primroses grow all year round in what used to be her garden. As she was a healer, I think that is a nice touch. You paint a very pleasant, restful scene here Neville.

Chris

[Neville]

thank you Chris .. my most recent return was indeed most pleasant and somewhat special.
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thank you Chris .. my most recent return was indeed most pleasant and somewhat special.

Neville

[Chris Shaw]

Yes, those wonderful memories of loved ones no longer with us, can certainly put us in a reflective happy place. Home sweet home.

[Lorry]

Ah, doctors and nurses eh? I remember it well, but trust me to pick the competitive one, who only wanted to study for her medical exams and never quite got the hang of that particular adventure! But hey, we were only 12 and when she wanted to learn how to snog, I was there to educate her, or more likely, we helped each other out with lots of practising
You never quite forget your first nurse 😊

[Neville]

I got into trubble the first time when she dobbed me in for sawing off her leg .. 🐧🍒👍x

[Ken Simm.]

Oh brilliant. The concept, the style and the story. It all rings huge but subtle bells of empathy and memory for me.
There is an empty village up here where lived an old soothsayer and in the midden next to her ramshakle cottage and the holy well they found hundreds of claret glasses. From her visitors no doubt.

[Neville]

you may well be write .. but I thank you sincerely for stopping by, for taking a peek and for leaving your mark sir Ken