Relics

Somehow we seem to have got into the habit of just going along the cycle path nearby for our walks - life seems to be quite busy, though just with sorting things and coffeeing with friends and seeing family and so on - anyway, we went very slightly further afield the other day to see the snowdrops in the Cammo Estate. My photos don't do them justice - there are thousands upon thousands. When I think of the forty or so that I nurture in my garden...! 

Here they are, in random clumps all over the place. 

Some of them aren't just the standard single ones, but these fancy double ones. 

The estate is managed in a sort of semi-wild way, and there are remnants everywhere of the grand gardens that were once here. 

This is all that's left of the 1693 house, which was demolished after it was set on fire by vandals and became unsafe - but it had been neglected for years by its mentally-unstable owners. There are also other remnants, such as an ornamental canal, stables and some cottages. 

It's a shame. However, it's now a lovely place where anyone can walk. It's especially popular with dog walkers, which is mildly alarming for non-doggy people, but there's plenty of space for everyone. 

I was interested and touched by Virginia's feelings that I should keep stuff, but really, my descendants (if they're interested) will have lots of other things, eg letters, to read. They don't need my 12-year-old thoughts on Mary Queen of Scots, poor soul that she was. I do know what you mean, though. I would be interested to read my great-grandmother's school reports (though in those days they wouldn't be very informative, I don't suppose). But one can't keep everything. I have so much stuff from my parents, too, who led much more spectacular lives than I have done. 

It's a tricky problem, though. What would descendants be interested in, enough to plough through piles of papers? 

I'm always rather moved by antique programmes in which archives appear for sale - maybe a beautiful portrait of a young man - someone's beloved son - or medals and papers, or photograph albums of a whole family, neatly organised. Presumably the line of the family that treasured these things has come to an end, as can easily happen. Quite possibly another branch of the family would treasure them, but contact has been lost. It's very intriguing and rather sad. We have grandchildren, but who knows what will happen, further down the line? 

And with that, I shall go and have a cup of tea while I wait for a friend to arrive. Her mother and mine were best friends and flatmates in London during the war and went through the Blitz together. Such different lives from our peaceful ones.