Back on the road, we continued down and through the town, picking up the B road northbound. Once through Shipham, the road joined the main A38 Bristol road. After a short distance, at a set of traffic lights, I turned left for the village of Churchill. I found a suitable spot to park that was out of the way and convenient. A short walk across a sports field and through some trees
brought me to Matt’s Patch.*
Matt was given a parcel of land to live on and tend. His plot is entirely locked by other land, all of which is bordered by trees, making him completely remote. The land about the area once belonged to the Church. At one end of Matt’s Patch is what was once a fish pond that fed a priory or the like. At the time I visited, Matt was still cleaning the pond out.
Besides his mobile home,
Matt has a chicken run,
though the hens have free range during the day.
Each day, the cats and I would saunter over the field and through the trees to visit Matt. I helped with whatever needed doing while the cats did their thing. In the evenings, we ate and sat around the fire chatting with a beer and a toke. The cats loved it there. The weather was good. Some nights they stayed there, some evenings one, the other or both would come home. Matt enjoyed having them around. Matt had told me about a particularly large rat that was also vicious. I reassured him that that rat won’t be around for too much longer. Then one evening there was an almighty commotion and screeching. Matt and I looked at each other as we agreed that the beast of a rat had met either or both the cats. Either way, he’s never seen King Rat again.
Arian
Rowan
*see entry Festivals, part 2 ...
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