Column: The unusual haunts of poetry

Poetry column by Maurice Spillane of Poetry Swindon

I often say you’ll find poetry in strange places. Here’s one.

Walking from Liddington Hill to Aldbourne, past the deserted village of Snap, you’ll come across a deserted barn, known as Lower Lodge Barn. The brickwork and timbers represent centuries of change. An ugly fence stops you from getting close, as it’s dangerous.

Surely this building should be preserved rather than left to decay and collapse. It’s listed, but what’s the point of being listed?

I ranted on about the barn to a friend of mine, David Hughes, who is a Recorder of old buildings. It turned out he knew a great deal about the barn as he’d surveyed it. He gave me a copy of his report, admitting “...it was technical and tedious.” I’ll give him that, but I read it.

Then came the fascination. Roundheads had stabled overnight before the battle of Newbury, builders had been several times between the Glorious Revolution and the Seven Years War, carpenters had left their initials. The language of tools and methods long gone from our vocabulary came to life. I wanted to know more about these people.

The report inspired a long poem, “The Recorder” available on my link below. Here’s a taster:

And it’s quiet this day, the Recorder on his ladder,

both hands to steady, pencil in mouth perhaps, excited

by the cocktail of staggered tenoned purlins,

the oak trusses calibrated on gunstock head posts,

the straight and curved raking struts and arched braces.

Poetry events are back. I’m looking forward to Innua Ellams, Poetry in the Pub, and Colm Tóibín at the Marlborough LitFest from 30 September: https://www.marlboroughlitfest.org/events/

From 21 October we have Swindon’s Big Poetry Weekend – all events will be streamed this year so you can choose from a good range of poets: bigpoetryweekend.com

www.mauricespillane.com