Bulletin From the St. Swithin Umbrella Corporation…14th Jul 2005 The Friends of T.C. Lethbridge Last month, I was contacted by Matt d'labwin-vies who wrote to wish me solstice greetings, but also to enquire if I knew of a man called Robert Cochrane. I had to admit that I had never heard of the bloke, but immediately became interested when Matt informed me that Cochrane – a Magister, had corresponded with T.C. Lethbridge during the 1960s. To-date, we have been unable to trace any of this correspondence, but if any reader can shed any light on this liaison, we would be delighted to hear from them. I discovered that Matt lived less than half-a-mile from my own home and arranged to meet him in a local beer garden. After spending a pleasant summer’s evening drinking Bass – the beer of the gods, I soon found out that Matt held a wealth of knowledge on local history and folklore. I therefore considered it appropriate to ask him to contribute this month’s essay – A Sabbatic Hill in Lincolnshire? to ‘The Friends of T.C. Lethbridge’ section of this website. Mayday! Mayday! The Stan Gooch EP As you will see from the corresponding graphic, ‘Mayday! Mayday! The Stan Gooch EP’ by the ARC Collective has now been released. The digi-pac CD is an initial, limited edition pressing of 200 copies and its objective is to raise awareness of the work of this extraordinary man. An abbreviated overview of Stan’s work can be found on the CD packaging, but a more comprehensive version of this essay written by Colin Wilson, can be found on the corresponding ‘Mayday! Mayday!’ link. The essay was originally written as the introduction to Stan’s ‘Cities of Dreams’, but was not used in the eventual publication. Our thanks go to Colin for his contribution to our project. TEKH’s Journal This month’s essay in my journal is simply entitled Mina. It as an essay that I have attempted to write on many occasions, but I have always been dissatisfied with the end results. However, since the arrival of Jon-ak onto the scene, I have been supplied with copious amount of information that has finally given Mina's story the substance and depth it deserves. I would therefore like to publicly thank him for his efforts, which have proven to be crucial in the piecing together of Mina Lethbridge’s story. I have stated in my preface, that the essay is inconclusive, for new facts regarding Mina’s life keep emerging from our ongoing research. I therefore see the essay evolving over time and I intend to regularly update the essay when new information comes to light. I therefore welcome any views or information from readers that will enable me to expand and build upon the story behind this remarkable life. Kite I recently took advantage of the new Right to Roam Act and took a walk across recently opened land on Bamford Moor in the Derbyshire Peak. The walks weren’t entirely new to me, as I had ventured into this forbidden territory many years before whilst searching out the sites of the Bamford Moor stone circles. This time however, I walked uninhibited, as my jaunt was now considered ‘legal’ in the eyes of the powers that be! Whilst walking below Stannage Edge above the Hordron Edge stone circle, I was reminded of the drama of this stunning site. For here, like at the Carles circle at Castlerigg, the ancients exploited the sheer theatre of the landscape. Here the numerous peaks within the Vale of Edale become crucial to the positioning of this unique megalithic setting. I recall a visit on 4th April 1998, when we attempted to take aerial photographs of the site using a camera attached to a kite. It was an experiment that we appeared to have shared with T.C. Lethbridge, who attempted to take aerial photographs on the island of Lundy. Lethbridge discusses his photographic kite-flying experiment in ‘Witches – Investigating an Ancient Religion’(1). Lethbridge had visited Lundy with his geologist friend Dollar, with the objective of investigating possible Viking burials on the island. Lethbridge’s investigations revealed that the burials were not in fact Viking, but most probably dated to medieval times. He was always one with a solution and after discovering that the burials weren’t Viking, he suggested that they were possibly those of prisoners who had been shipped across the Atlantic as slaves after the battle of Sedgemoor. For it is known that these poor unfortunates, were dumped somewhere on-route. Whilst waiting for the return boat to Bideford, Lethbridge and Dollar passed the time by successfully attempting to dowse for the volcanic dykes which passed through the slate rock in the south of the island, as well as attempting aerial photography with a kite. If our own experiment at kite photography is anything to go by, then Lethbridge and Dollar would have been equally disappointed with their results when the film was returned from processing. Whether successful or not, the picture painted by Lethbridge of two grown men imaginatively passing their waiting time, is one of sheer delight. ….it never rains, but pours… welbourn TEKH – Linden – ‘the people of the pool’ – July 2005 Notes: 1. Lethbridge T.C. (1962) ‘Witches – Investigating an Ancient Religion’ Routledge & Kegan Paul p.15 |
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