Scenes from my journey to school
On a Spring morning I hear the skylark in a cloudless blue sky singing to his heart’s delight. He breaks the complete silence of early morning as I walk to school, the dew on the grass glistens in the morning’s bright sunlight. A rabbit scuttles from his burrow, leaps and bounds to greet the new day as cattle rise from their slumber, stretch and survey all around to see where the best grass is.
I continue down to the Cross River Bridge where I see trout swimming against the river’s flow. I hear wren’s singing and I know I will try and find their nest on my way home from school.
One robin never seems to see more…
The bleeting lambs and ewes are an explosion of sound as the whitethorns burst into a brillant canopy of white flowers with a beautiful sweet aroma.
Primroses and cowslips are in full bloom and their saffron colour looks like a carpet on the green fields. I come to a wood on both sides of the raod and it feels like its nature’s umbrella. Half way down there are men cutting timber for the town’s population. There is no coal to be had because of the war. I am nearing school now and there are men with horses and carts filling potholes with gravel.
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My schooldays
Sometimes we would bring fallen twigs for teacher to light the fire.
Playtime was football with a tennis ball but we were not allowed to catch or kick the ball high as the school boundary was a stonewall beside the road.
We had a yearly town versus country football match and we nearly always won this.
I was allowed over the ball alley in summer and also at lunch time by Mr Byrne. In Summer time we were allowed to run on the strand behind the ball alley where we had a course laid out with six jumps.
On my way home from school I had a choice of two routes, Broadleas or Ardenode Road. In Summer it wasArdenode, I followed the river from Ballybought to Alliganstown. Chasing after floundering ducks that kept just ahead till we were far away enough from their nest till they would go up and away.
We tired to catch fish but never were lucky enough to catch any.
Irishfolklore 