After yesterday's stranger in my cactus, it was suggested that it could be me, I don’t know why. Well can you see me in this capture as it's the first time I've been able to capture my own village from such a distance.
Well obviously you can't see me as I'm behind the camera, but if you look closely in the centre and just below the woods, is my village of Middleyard. The woods to the right are called Stanley Woods and behind my village is Penn Woods.
I have mentioned and captured the Baptist church in my village and in the 1600's there were a great many Baptists in the area. King Charles 1 unfortunately banned all Baptists and other non-conformists from teaching or preaching, so they had to do so in secret meetings.
I mentioned this as the Baptist villagers had to climb Penn Lane up into Penn woods, where they would all meet at the "Gospel Beech" tree for their worshiping. Many were still fined and imprisonment for not conforming to the rules. After Oliver Cromwell had Charles 1 executed, and by 1689, times had changed and the villagers were able to have their own religious houses.
My village is much friendlier today and will help each other out, well most of the time.
Good to see the layout of your village & the area immediately around it….lots of woods & trees surrounding you which is lovely! Interesting history too.
