Cyfaredd 6: The Italian House

Haia Pawb (Hiya Everyone)

In an earlier blog post I talked about literary associations in and around Bridge, where I had stayed for a few days. When I arrived in Corris, I wondered what sort of literary associations I would find. Given I'm staying in Wales, the home of the bards, there must poets and poems and tales touching all parts of the landscape. What I found surprised me.

On one of my walks, I wandered past a property and did a double take. Concrete and brick structures representing different Italian buildings and architecture styles filled the gardens. I didn't get a chance to wander around the place, as it isn't open to the public, but below are some photos taken from the road:

Wilfrid Owen 'homage'

A E Housman 'homage'

Close up of the A E Housman

The last three photos comprise my 'hit' of literary association for the town so far. The constructions seem to be reproductions of gravestones for Wilfred Owen and A E Housman; if not reproductions, then some sort of homage to the two poets.

The reproduction villas, plazas and towers, the crenelated walls (using bricks showing the markers names), the tombstones (if that;s what they are), were built by a local man, Mark Bourne. He had visited Italy in the 1980s and been inspired by the architecture to produce his own versions.

The proper has passed into other hands since Mr Bourne's death, but I haven't heard if his 'folly' will be maintained and opened to visitors sometime in the future.

By the way, just a couple of corrections and additions to previous posts:

1.  A good friend pointed out that in my previous post the hawthorns were in fact blackthorns.
2. I have placed a link in the post on Alan Garner to the publication of his speech.

I hope all is well in your parts of the world. And for those who told me they liked my jackdaw photos, here's another one:

Until next time.

Pob Hwyl
Earl