The Borrowers’ House

On https://derrickjknight.com/2019/06/16/mutual-grooming/ I featured a photograph taken at Oxton in May 1999 which I had e-mailed to Louisa.

Today, while listening to the men’s Cricket World Cup match between England and Australia, I scanned the rest of a batch of prints I had retained from that trip to Oxton taken with Michael and his family on one of their holidays at Lindum House.

Our walk took us along a path through fields of barley.

Emily sped ahead.

An undulating sheep field led to

more open landscape

above which Emily and Oliver took a rest.

We travelled on to Halam where Emily was delighted to find The Borrowers’ House.

This evening Jackie and I dined on succulent pork chops roasted with onions and sage; new potatoes sautéed with leeks and peppers; and crisp broccoli with which the Culinary Queen drank Blue Moon and I drank more of the Squinizano.

64 comments

  1. There’s nothing like the delight of a child in magic! In Siddy’s park there is a little fairy door that mysteriously moves about from fence to tree trunk to hillock. It appears to be firmly fixed in place wherever it is and I sometimes see children with big eyes crouched by it, searching for a way in. As I walk, I look for it too.

  2. Lovely, serene photos, Derrick! I especially love the ones of family and sheep walking the hills and fields together! As I looked at them I heard Sting singing “Fields of Gold”. 🙂
    I love how you’ve captured the patchwork landscape! Beautiful! 🙂
    OH! The Borrowers’ House! So magical and imagination-inspiring! Emily’s reactions say it all! 🙂 (I’ve read all of the novels!) 🙂
    HUGS!!! 🙂
    PS…”new” potatoes are always better than old moldy ones! HA! 😉 😛

      1. You’re welcome! And thank you, Derrick! It’s nice to have my words appreciated. Sorry my comments are often so long. You always share such wonderful things that get my brain a’thinkin’! 🙂

  3. The Borrowers’ house! What, please, is the meaning of the name? Is it a gnomic version of ‘Burrower”? PS. I also enjoyed listening to the England v Australia match.

      1. It is now 3.55. There is a secondhand bookshop across the road from me and as soon as I read this comment of yours I ran across. He closes at 4. It is a Puffin copy he has given me. I make him a coffee most days and any book that I want that is less than a coffee from a coffee shop I get gratis. I will read it with relish as one does with ham and cheese.

  4. Such a peaceful walk! I love it. It seems that you’re more free to walk through a farmer’s fields in England than we are in the United States. My daughter and I took a walk once near Canterbury, and there was a trail through a grain field for walkers. In the United States we seem to feel that it’s private property and we should stay out.

  5. Your old family photos are lovely Derrick. ‘Fields of Gold immediately sprang into my mind too. The song will be with me for the rest of the day!

  6. “Many years have passed since those summer days among the fields of barley,
    See the children run as the sun goes down among the fields of gold” 🎶

    I remember reading The Borrowers as a child – your images brought back good memories! 🙂

    Sorry about the cricket! (Not) 😉

  7. Barley! There used to be fields of it where I grew up. And there was a sad Irish song with the chorus “the wind that shakes the barley” that my old folks replayed on cassette. Thanks for sharing the photos!

  8. As someone who grew up on the Borrowers (Afield, Aloft, Afloat, and in every other incarnation), I was delighted to see that their house is open to the public! Thank you for sharing it.

  9. The Borrowers!! How I delighted in those stories when I was growing up and reading them. In 2012 Tara and I went to see a movie called Arietty, that Tara said was based on The Borrowers. Sure enough, it’s a lovely re-told version of a similar borrowing family, Japanese anime bringing an old beloved classic to life. I would be just as excited to find the door as Emily.

  10. I have been touring a lot these days on official missives and have been saving your posts for reading at leisure. Those fields of barley and the rolling fields are classics that touched my heart.

  11. I love the photos, especially that little gnome home at the bottom of the tree where Emily is sitting. The fields of barley remind me of a song by Sting, ‘Fields of Gold’.

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