One of the returning themes during the course of our Somerset Days project has been an examination of the wider benefits that one gains from making the commitment to ‘Just Gentle Go’. Becoming a 'JGG 'person.

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In addition to the physical benefits (both in regards to the healthy circulation of the blood to the brain, proper oxygenation of the muscles etc and also the positive wellbeing effect that the alertness of an active body brings to the correct functioning of our biological neural network system) someone taking onboard the mantra of ‘Just Gentle Go’ gains other less obvious benefits.

 

In our project we have started to call this facet ‘Discovery’. This is much more than just seeing something that you hadn’t come across before, and thinking ‘oh look, an odd shaped wall’.  Exploring new ground in your walks will open yourself up to a broadening of the mind through the whole process of Discovery and following where that leads you.

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As children we are by nature persistently curious, always questioning the environment in which we find ourselves. It is the way we develop as Humans. Parents of a growing child are always being asked “Why” and “What is this for”. However tiring that sometimes becomes, a parent’s or guardian’s role is to nurture that curiosity in their offspring to give that child a well-balanced and positive outcome for their ongoing future as adults. We do this exploration subconsciously as an child, but many of us lose that state of questioning as we leave behind our childhood and enter ‘the real world’.

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Discovery however is far more than just noticing ‘that odd-shaped wall’ on one of your ramblings. A JGG person on seeing this wall will start to ask questions, do some proper in-depth research, and then follow-up on the new trails that this research opens up. It is our contention that adding this 'Discovery' factor to your ramblings keeps your brains active and healthy. Although we are now both into the latter half of our seventies, we not only feel physically much younger and more active than our age would suggest, but we know also that we are continuing to expand our cerebral knowledge and reasoning faculties. Take for example that “Very Odd Shaped Wall”

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Walls are built for a variety of reasons. Some are there to define possession, in effect saying ‘that land beyond here is mine’.  Others are protective of possessions, to retain livestock, keep other moveable things enclosed, or being stolen etc. Other walls are defensive in nature, to keep people out, large Castle walls etc. In terms of prisons, their high walls are both to keep inmates in, but also to stop outsiders easily smuggling in contraband for the prisoners, or throwing over ropes or ladders to assist them escape.  Some walls are purely there to ‘hold up other walls’ – such as buttresses or retaining walls – reinforcing the structural integrity of a building made up of other walls. Single walls do exist and can be purely a structure built for commemorative purposes, such as to hold a descriptive plaque of a person or event, or to honour death, such as a war memorial. Sometimes however one comes across what appears to be a simple single freestanding wall. But a closer examination of its structure would reveal that it is in fact part of the remains of a larger building that has fallen down or been partially removed to clear a site. These 'apparent single walls' will show clues, if you walk around them, that they were originally connected to something.

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Julie recounts how, during one of our Somerset Days rambles, we came across this “Very Odd Shaped Wall”  and how that discovery, and the follow up reseach we undertook at the County Records Office in Taunton, led us to discover a fascinating and little known part of Somerset's history. This 'Discovery' aspect is an important part of the 'Just Gentle Go' philosophy. keeping your mind ever inquiring and youthful.

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A WALL FOR NO REASON ? .... NOW THAT'S VERY ODD !

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Julie recalls -

"After a beautiful walk around Ham Hill, we decided to have a drink in an old Pub that we had driven by many times, but had never visited, The Fleur-de-Lis at Stoke sub Hamdon. ( Official Historic England Listing here )  As we sat in the late afternoon sunshine, enjoying our drinks and free bar nibbles from the pubs delicious leftover Sunday roast, I noticed a very large old stone wall at the end of the garden. As he had trained as an Architect, I aksed John for his opinion, thinking it must be the remnants of an old grand building."

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John has this memory of that day -

"I remember thinking this wall was very interesting, and decidedly "Odd".  Firstly, it's decorative style was quite ornate, with a pronounced double curved top with ‘Ogee’ symmetry, finished with large Ball Finials at either end (suggesting maybe that it was originally the gable end of a prominent building?) However, if this was the gable wall of a grand building there was no evidence that it ever had any window or door openings.  Secondly, it was stabilsed by a matching pair of projecting stepped 45 degree angled offset buttresses at each end (surely, if it had been a gable wall, the returning attached structural walls would have rendered these buttresses unnecesary?) and thirdly it’s large size! (around 8 metres high) I really did need to establish what this wall was, as it seemed curiously out of place. On inspecting the structure more closely, climbing around the back and looking at the construction details, I soon realised that it had been built as a completely self-standing structure, never having had any attached structures and had always been just a wall!  Not the gable end of a grand building as it might have appeared to a passer-by at a casual glance. So, this seemed to be 'Wall for No Reason' ?

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How intriguing!!

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Julie continues - "After we had finished our drinks and taken our glasses back to the bar, we enquired about 'The Wall' and were happy to be pointed to a framed picture giving the following explanation. The wall apparently dated back to the mid 1700s when it was used for a game of 'Fives'. Not the Eton or Rugby public school variety, but a different ball game which was very popular in the villages of Somerset at the time. We then decided we needed to research more and visited the South West Heritage Trust Archives in Taunton collecting as much material as we could about this fascinating, but largely forgotten piece of Somerset's history. The Fleur-de-Lis wall is one of about six walls, that still remain, dotted around Somerset, usually in the grounds of public houses.

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Originally, the game had been played against the outside of churches, but was banned because of damage to the stone and broken windows! In one churchwarden's accounts for 1705 the cost of 4 shillings is mentioned for repairing a window caused by players of "fives". Purpose-made walls were then constructed to save the churches from being battered!  The text below is from a report by the vicar of Martock Church of a meeting held in 1758

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We were amazed and inspired by all this additional information and over the next few months visited all the walls in turn. The photo below is one we took of a "fives wall" (locally known as "the Pelota Wall", with a distinctly slimmer profile than most of the others) which is to be found at the rear end of the garden of The Lord Poulett Arms in the centre of the village of Hinton St George. The Lord Poulett Arms is another charming old Somerset pub, and well worth a visit.

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The village of Hinton St George itself is quite delightful, with a wealth of old stone houses and a community owned local shop and Post Office.

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And to think, this all started with a pleasant cold glass of white wine, one sunny afternoon!   What a Discovery