|
|
The Bad Winter is a series of fifty poems about Dartmoor that starts with the bad winter of 1962-63 which was the coldest prolonged winter since 1740. The snow lasted for at least three months on the moor and many farms and villages were cut off. Woven into this is the history of the South West moor where the poet James Crowden grew up. He covers a very wide range of subjects such as Tavistock Abbey, the Lydford Mint, tin mining, rabbit warrens, swaling, peat cutting, leats, china clay, Dartmoor prison, Eamon de Valera, Blue Grass and of course the Chagford Tinners Riot of 1793 which was led by his great-great-great-great grandfather Zacharias Pascoe who later built himself a small cottage at Rundlestone near Princetown. Here you will find a rich vein of Dartmoor history and a personal touch which taps into the real lives of those that have lived and worked on the moor.
Introduction by James Pascoe Crowden This collection of poems has a loose historical narrative running through them. Some of the poems evolved out of conversations many years ago, others are more recent. In particular the memories of such people as George, Ethel and David Bowden, Fred and Don Peek and the farmers around Meavy left a deep impression on me as a child. Although I was brought up in Tavistock, my mother’s parents lived in Meavy. My parents were married there, I was christened there and both my grandparent’s funerals were held there. It was and still is an important village to me, for it contains my earliest memories. My grandmother’s first cousin was a writer called Winston Graham and his books on Cornwall took pride of place on the book shelves of the White Cottage. So for me there also was an early attraction to writing. My grandfather, Captain Henry Moulton, who sang in the church choir for many years, had been in convoys in both wars and so also there was a strong link to the sea as well as to the moor. The Royal Oak also played its part. Only relatively recently have I delved into the life of Zacharias Pascoe. When I mentioned his name to Dr Tom Greeves in Tavistock he exclaimed “Not THE Zacharias Pascoe?” Indeed it was the same man that Tom knew from his tin mining research. Zacharias is an interesting antecedent to have on one’s side in times of trouble. In 1800 his daughter Jane Pascoe married a quarterdeck gunner Dennis Crowden who had recently come into a good wodge of prize money from the capture of two Spanish frigates heavily laden with gold, silver and drugs from South America. When I grew up in Tavistock the snow and arctic conditions of the ‘Bad Winter’ of 1962-63 left a very deep impression on me and maybe it is no coincidence that I later spent a winter in the Himalayas. Dartmoor is endlessly interesting but it is the working men and women who lived on the moor who fascinate me. These poems are only a start but I hope that they give some insight into the working conditions on the moor as well as the ancient history that lies just under the surface. |
||||||
