Sunday 9 November 2014

Monument



Out on Twyford Down, someone erected a bit of a monument to those responsible for the deep cutting into the chalk hill that takes the M3 motorway past Winchester.  It took the form of a rough-cut but smooth-faced monolith, about five feet tall, and beautifully lettered with an inscription that reads as follows:
This land was ravaged by
G. Malone
L. MacGregor
R. Key
J. Major
D. Keep
C. Parkinson
C. Patten
M. Thatcher
C. Chope
Quite recently, it either broke (I'm pretty sure it was made of concrete, not stone, and was not weathering well) or was persuaded to break by someone, and now lies, face up, in the grass close to the rim of the cutting. It is somehow more effective in its prone position, rather less pseudo-megalithic, and reminds me of the inscribed stones at Ian Hamilton Finlay's "Little Sparta" garden.

Motorway?  What motorway?

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