On 15 August I set out for Primrose Hill with a bagfull of picnic contributions, and I was all excited. The Raven had announced this event as a popular one, so as a relatively new member I was looking forward to meeting some of the London Grove members I had missed so far. The weather was actually quite good for the summer of 2004: warm and dry with sunny spells. I was going to enjoy this day.
I got to Primrose Hill early – not very Druidic, I know, it’s something my job has trained me to do – so I sat myself down on the bench just inside the entrance to the park and waited.
After a while a dark haired lady with a green poncho walked up. It was Maureen, who I had never met before. We struck up a good conversation, getting to know each other. And waited.
A little later Daniel and Lorraine showed up. We waited some more. Over half an hour after the agreed time, no-one else had turned up. So the four of us set out for the top of the hill, fully expecting to find a large group of Druids sitting having a picnic somewhere. We didn’t.
So we found a nice spot in the shade where we spread out a blanket. We were sitting in the shade of some young trees and eventhough we weren’t on the very top of the hill, we still had quite a good view of London. Between the four of us, we came up with quite a good spread of food, from grapes and quiche to chocolate cake. Especially Maureen’s coated nuts were very popular.
Inevitably, the conversation turned to the less than impressive turnout and the general rudderless state of London Grove. After Karen had decided to step down from her organisational role, the rest of us were at a loss as to where things would be going next. And it was looking very much like it was going nowhere fast. The four of us agreed that it would be a shame if London Grove would cease to exist. I for one had only come to it six months earlier and had found a friendly welcome. I didn’t want to lose this new community of people I had already come to like.
The other people picnicing agreed with me, and a course of action was decided. Daniel and Lorraine, assisted by Maureen, would contact every contactable member of the Grove and get them together for a meeting. That way we could collectively decide what we wanted to do next. I was very glad to learn that there was at least that much will to continue.
When we felt satiated with the nice food and the view, we honoured the spirit of place by taking a walk. Maureen knows the area well, and she led us towards Regent Park. On the bridge over the canal, she pointed out an Awen symbol to us. Apparently, it was used quite frequently by builders and stonemasons at the time the bridge was built. We remembered seeing one just like it by the west door of St Bride church on a seedgroup walk back in February.
We then turned left along the canal into Camden. It’s a very pleasant walk through some greenery and past the Pirates Castle. We meandered through the market, stopping at a pub for a drink and some socialising. We walked toward another green area where we resumed our picnic and our conversation. By about 6pm we felt it was time to go home and we dispersed satisfied and positive about the future.
Hilde
