Bylands Abbey which is not far from our home. We are blessed with so much history on our doorstep. There has been an abbey on this site since 1135. Bylands grew to be one of the most important monasteries in the country. It’s church was described as one the finest in Europe during the 12th century. At its peak it was home to 36 monks and 100 lay brothers. It was closed in 1538 as part of Henry VIII’s suppression of the monasteries.

Late afternoon we ventured here. The weather had been grim but was slowly improving. It seemed the perfect time and place for Hawklad to test just how much progress he had made with connecting again with the wider world again. His favourite subject, HISTORY and likely to quiet.

At the start it was a little too quiet for the test. We had the site completely to ourselves. There are places which have a special atmosphere. This is certainly one of them. You could definitely hear the echos of the past.

After a while a few other brave souls arrived. A couple of families. Some rather damp walkers. A well behaved dog. I dread to think the damage Captain Chaos could cause if he was given free reign here. The dissolution of the monasteries would have happened so much quicker if only it had been left to a mad pup.

It’s a pretty big, open site but to Hawklad it shrank rather too quickly. No one got too close, Hawklad made sure of that. He noted that no one had masks on. He wanted to put his on but felt self conscious. Even when I put mine on he still declined. He made sure not to touch any surfaces. The visit changed in nature. From a fun historic walk to anxious glances and nerves. Within a few minutes Hawklad was rapidly heading towards the exit and the safety of the car.

So he made another visit. It’s a step in the right direction. But it also highlighted just how far he still has to venture. Even small numbers of strange faces are enough to throw him. That’s outside and not inside. Inside would be such a test. A test he may face sooner rather than later if he is to return to school in September.

45 thoughts on “Abbey”

  3. Looks like an amazing place. Very atmospheric. A great effort and each step he takes is important for him, whether the return to school happens or not. He is out of the house. Look how far he has come, with your support and caring guidance. Keep going. ❤️❤️

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  8. Yesterday I had a shopping list, s’ tight in uz hand like a serious mission, ‘n ventured into Tesco Carmarthen. Ta dodge others 🛒 I went down aisles a didn’t need ‘n looked a’ things ont’ shelf I’m not interested in. I acted like a spy or maybe a shoplifta, ‘cos I noticed a uniformed bloke a few times. I got what was ont’ list n’ survived it, but had such a throbbin ‘eadache behind uz eyes, tha’ someone at the checkout actually asked if I was alright. 😷
    Without the list I’d ha’ probably left wi’ nowt!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      1. If the chickens were live I might hide them and take them home, but dead sentient beings in my pockets, that’s far too weird for me. Walked around with an abandoned baby rabbit 🐇 in a large lapel pocket, bottle feeding at uni, does that count?

        Liked by 1 person

  9. p.s. I just Googled “how to be brave” and findin’ (see link) I added one word and emoji to their favourite expression to make
    “I wouldn’t do that SHIT 💩 if I was you!”
    Which is pretty much one of my favourite expressions too and has held me in good stead living by it, that and “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothes 👗 and stupid 👠 shoes”

    https://www.inc.com/rhett-power/10-ways-to-live-a-more-courageous-life.html

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  16. Of course, no one can expect him to drop everything and run over to everybody embracing them. There is still a way to go. But it is amazing to see that he already passed the first meters. And he did it because HE wanted it!
    Awesome place, btw.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  17. Very cool photos. Our history is so relatively young here – at least the history we’re taught about in school. They tend to leave out Native American history except from the perspective of us white conquerors. I’m glad to hear that Hawklad was able to get out in a public space. Bravo! One step at a time.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s