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The lark ascending can help lift our gloomy spirits

Continuing his series of reflections on place and pathway, Will Gore finds birdsong can brighten even the dampest of days

Thursday 12 March 2020 14:55 GMT
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As George Meredith had it, all should ‘hear and all should know that he is joy, awake, aglow’
As George Meredith had it, all should ‘hear and all should know that he is joy, awake, aglow’

Muddy? By God it was, right from the off.

The kind of mud that sucks in boots and traps small children, who then collapse into the brown, unmoving stream and wail. The kind of mud that makes you think of First World War trenches, and feel thankful.

Our party struggled on along the swampy path, hemmed in by hedgerows: soiled and saturated mittens were rung out; dry feet given up as a lost cause. With a stiffening wind and rain around, we wondered if we would reach our goal, Wolstonbury Hill, which was not far off; but maybe far enough for the youngest of us.

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