Category: English Lake District

Wander Wood #phoetry

And is there time in wander wood Or slow, abiding, gentle ‘should’ Without resistance: touch and kiss A reaching for midsummer’s bliss So powerful this May surprise I need not leave my seat – just close my eyes To wander in the wonder wood ©Stephen Tanham 2023 Stephen Tanham is a Director of the Silent Eye, a journey through the forest of personality to … Read More Wander Wood #phoetry

From Windermere to Sedgwick

We have just needed the Silent Eye’s ‘Water-Circle+Cross’ weekend, which took place a forty minute journey away, on the shores of Lake Windermere, England’s largest lake. The weekend had gone well; better than expected, in fact, and I will be writing up each of the days over the next couple of weeks. Our friend, Dean, had been staying with us and was due to … Read More From Windermere to Sedgwick

A LAP with the Gods

4:30 wake up, 5 a.m. leaving, 5:30 a.m. breakfast, 6 a.m start… It was the final communication before they set off… With 47 miles of gruelling mountain trail ahead, our intrepid walking companions – John and Angela, launched themselves into the dawn of a beautiful May morning, along with hundreds of other walkers, each determined to pit themselves against an entire circuit of all … Read More A LAP with the Gods

#Phoetry – Stone Fortress Mind

Beneath the skies of blue that ache with white-kissed beauty Beside the meadows’ deeper green that brightens every day Beyond the water’s vastness blown by breezes on a million waves She waits for him to end his stone-faced exile. #Phoetry is a hashtag amalgamation of the words Photography and Poetry, a form of visual and poetic communication. ©Stephen Tanham 2023 Stephen Tanham is a … Read More #Phoetry – Stone Fortress Mind

Following the curves of the Kent

The sky was blue and windswept. The clouds had a definite formation to them. They were pointing at the nearest part of the coast, their central blue line line exactly mirroring the River Kent, whose last two miles curve through Levens Park, ancestral home of the Bagot Family. We are fortunate in the village of Sedgwick to have two points of access to Levens … Read More Following the curves of the Kent

Emotional journey of the Deep-Me (Part 1)

The spiritual quest is simple: we need to: (1) Recognise that, in our present ‘state of mind’ we are not as we could be. (2) Begin to follow those ‘inklings’ within us to a new ‘Kingdom-Queendom of me’. (3) Keep our eyes – and minds – open for clues that may provide simple or substantial course-corrections. (4) Observe everything as though the end of … Read More Emotional journey of the Deep-Me (Part 1)

Drowning not waving

Stage Directions: Cue: Hamlet cigars advert music from the 60’s to the 90’s…. Video link below, if you weren’t there… YouTube video, late 1970s… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVecbh15dWU They were a very popular series of ads about heroic failures… All featuring the same theme music ‘Air on the G String’ by J. S. Bach. It is said that humour is divine. I often find it puts into … Read More Drowning not waving

Spring Oak

From a distance it’s just another tree. Yet, as you get closer there’s something about this oak that makes it a kind of ‘king of the hill’. It sits on the highest point of a track that used to be the path of a canal linking Preston with Kendal. The stretch of landscape was known among the barge folk as the most beautiful of … Read More Spring Oak

To Boldly Glow…

We’d like to thank Stuart France for his decade of insightful contributions to the Silent Eye, his companionship, and the depth of his historical spiritual knowledge. We will miss him, very much, and wish him well in his future work. And now we have to move on… Deeper into cyberspace may not the only place we glow.  The world is changing, and we must, … Read More To Boldly Glow…

Death and Resurrection

For the mystic, Easter is about symbols… Being doesn’t break through the barriers into normal life very often, though it is the very substance and energy of its existence. The journeys in the gospels are those of the individual soul, learning the fundamental truths of their own existence – which then expands to be existence, itself. For me and many others, Easter is about … Read More Death and Resurrection

Treachery and Morecambe Bay

The treachery of Morecambe Bay has been well-documented throughout its history. Volatile, unpredictable and downright dangerous are words often used to describe it by those in the know. A ‘sister’ resort to Blackpool, forty miles to the South – Morecambe has managed to cling to a little of its former Victorian glamour partly due to such iconic buildings as the renowned Art Deco Midland … Read More Treachery and Morecambe Bay

A most unlikely castle…

James Dawson had an eye for a view. In 1840, he stood on the spot from which the photo below was taken. and decided to buy it. His advisors explained that he couldn’t buy all of that, but could have the land down to Lake Windermere, on which he could more or less do what he wanted… planning control were not expected along for … Read More A most unlikely castle…

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