Lyn
My ‘Postcard from Farley Mount’ depicts the folly that’s a monument to a horse. The little landscape is made by wet-felting pre-felts onto two layers of white merino wool tops then lines of needle felting were added afterwards – it’s approx 15 x 13cm / 6”x5”.
I took inspiration for my landscape from the painting ‘Windmill’ by Eric Ravilious – I liked the very simple depiction of the landscape with its one dominating subject.
Farley Mount is a large Country Park of downland and woodland, with a folly stood on one of the highest hills in Hampshire, and was a favourite picnic spot for our family and friends in the 60’s.
The folly is a monument to a horse named ‘Beware Chalk Pit’ and the story is told on a plaque (photo from Wikimedia Commons) – see below the photo for the wording on the plaque.
“Underneath lies buried a horse, the property of Paulet St. John Esq., that in the month of September 1733 leaped into a chalk pit twenty-five feet deep a foxhunting with his master on his back and in October 1734 he won the Hunters Plate on Worthy Downs and was rode by his owner and was entered in the name of “Beware Chalk Pit”.
Picnics were always a time for my mum and auntie to sit and knit and chat while we children just mucked about having fun.
Cars were small in those days – everything you took with you had to be small to fit in the boot (trunk), so our chairs were very low, metal framed, fold-up canvas chairs.
One time my dad and my uncle came back from a short walk and unfolded a couple of canvas chairs to sit on.
Now, these chairs had seen many picnics and the canvas was getting worn so when my very portly uncle flopped his bulk down there was a loud ripping sound. He had gone through the seat of the chair and through the seam on the seat of his trousers!
There was no sewing kit to hand so a thin metal hairgrip, like this,
was fashioned into a needle, using pliers from dad’s car toolbox, then threaded with knitting yarn so that the seat of uncle’s trousers could be sewn together with great big woollen cross-stitches!
I did try very hard not to laugh 🙂