ON THE TILLINGBOURNE, NEAR ST MARTHA'S-ON-THE HILL... (MY POEM ABOUT WHERE AN ANCESTOR OF MINE ONCE MADE GUNPOWDER FOR THE ARMY...)

 On The Tillingbourne, Near St Martha’s-on-the-Hill…

I wanted to believe

That his worn, grimy boots,

Given a cursory polish

With cloth and blacking and phlegm,

Had trudged this trodden way,

Cursing his weary day

Upon a pilgrimage to St Martha’s-on-the-Hill.

I wanted to grieve

For his lung-dusting trade,

Proven a dangerous game

With sulphur and charcoal and saltpetre;

Millstones dressed to coarsely grind,

Regressing his wry mind

At the foot of St Martha’s pilgrims’ hill.

I wanted to retrieve

Some understanding about his army existence,

Woven around a regimented life 

With danger and fear and loss;

Gunpowder created amid tensions palpable,

Rendering his service culpable 

On the slopes and the beauty of St Martha’s hill.

I wanted to weave,

Into this ancestral woodland

Haven, a milling link to me

With tributary and alder and burning;

Lives stressed by explosion fears,

Pondering upon death and weeping tears

During funeral processions to St Martha’s-on-the-Hill…

Pete Ray

My ancestor John Hedges was a gunpowder maker for the military at Chilworth and his family was linked to St Martha’s-on-the-Hill church. 

I worked regularly at Hall Green's Sarehole Mill during my teaching years for the Schools Liaison Department of Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery. 

I couldn’t believe that the link to a watermill on the Tillingbourne in Surrey could be so relevant to my life… 

Alder trees were set alight to produce the charcoal, which was mixed by milling to saltpetre and 

sulphur…