Mike Vickers' Blog

We have just been again for a short break in Northumberland – Northumberland is a lovely place of high rounded hills and productive flat grassland planes separated from the North Sea by a high escarpment and a narrow delightful coastal plane with castles, one on Holy Island, a large impressive one at Bamburgh, just a wall remaining at Dunstanburgh and a nice one at Warkworth.  If you want to know more about Northumberland just go to http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=northumberland&hl=en&qscrl=1&rlz=1T4AURU_enGB501GB501&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=AwhqUKaYEaKN0wX83YCoAQ&sqi=2&ved=0CEEQsAQ&biw=1600&bih=713

Alternatively you can see my short blog for our previous trip last year at derryvickers.com  – October 2011.

But back to the high rounded hills next the planes; many of them are topped with hill forts which date back to the bronze age.  From the tops there are magnificent views, though I suspect that the inhabitants at those early times were more interested in preserving themselves and their cattle than be too concerned with the view – though perhaps I am wrong – why should I doubt that bronze age peoples and their successors in iron age were no less attracted to the views in their spare moments than we.  Which takes me to a book I have been reading by a philosopher John Gray entitled ‘Straw Dogs’ – I don’t commend it to anyone who has not a strong constitution.  John Gray’s  statement is that we humans are no different from the other animals and like the other animals do not progress – we are just as likely to regress over the next years  – if we think otherwise we delude ourselves and he points to many examples.

On our last morning of the holidays I looked up to the skies and saw three or four skeins of wild geese flying south forming and reforming their ‘V’ shaped flight formations, ones at the front falling back with others taking over;  and remembering John Gray and thinking the geese will still be flying south in September each year when we humans have long died out from the Planet.