Stannington
Twenty-five years a foot-soldier,
pensioned to this high scrape
of heather and bracken.
Build stone walls
against the slow march of hills.
Pace out the acreage:
Nethergate, Uppergate, Knoll.
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The first poem in James Caruth’s sequence Tithes, with which The Footing opens. Listen to James Caruth reading this poem (on location in Bowcroft Cemetery, Stannington):
The Footing 