Terminalia

I discovered the Feast of Terminalia from a post on the Radical Stroud Website. Apparently, it is a festival of walking, space and psychogeography, which takes place on the 23rd February – coincidently is a day after the walk I am leading for Southwold Ramblers around the Biodiversity Ring around Thornbury.

Can we make something out of this?

Terminus is the Roman God of Boundaries – and the Biodiversity Ring follows the boundary of Thornbury’s built up area – more or less.

There is certainly a walk to be had around the boundary of the Borough of Thornbury, and I have written at least two Parish Boundary walks reflecting changes in the extent of the parish.

Landowners decorated boundary stones and made offerings of grains, honey and wine and sometimes poured blood over the stone. I think multigrain bread and honey and a libation wouldn’t be too controversial. I am not too keen on pouring lamb’s blood – but I suppose a piece of black pudding might work for those who are keen on authenticity.

Does anyone know of any useful boundary stones? I know of one in the sixth form playing fields. I read that there is a milestone in the Museum.

Alveston was Aelfwig’s Stone and there is a village of Stone towards Gloucester.

Does anyone know what psychogeography is?

Looking for ideas here!

Responses

enchantingpenguin31a4eb22c9

6th Jan 2025

There’s a Museum walk that follows the borough boundary (roughly, as some of it is on private land). That’s different of course to the Parish boundary which is far more extensive. Various boundary stone markers in place, such as in Church St, Gillingstool, Bristol Road. The playing fields stone isn’t a borough marker but the division between two fields (Blakes and ??).
Drop in to the museum for a leaflet (people there Tuesday am).
A walk around the parish boundary would be good but rather lengthy.

“Psychogeography is the study of how a geographical location affects a person’s emotions and behavior.” Apparently you take an unplanned ramble through familiar or new territory and react to what you see or encounter. Though I guess any walk could accomplish that if you want it to?
Stan

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1. Chris Bloor
  
  7th Jan 2025
  
  I am reminded of how I used dice to unplan a walk. I used a pile of those old green OS Pathfinder maps and threw a six sided dice to choose one. Next I threw a twenty sided Dungeons and Dragons dice for the eastings and a ten sided dice for the northings to choose a kilometre square and that is where we would go for a walk unless the square was in the sea!
  
  I am minded to try something similar in Thornbury.
  
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enchantingpenguin31a4eb22c9

6th Jan 2025

Of course Beating the Bounds was an obligatory annual event at one time, still enacted in places, to emphasise where the borough laws extended to. It often involved children and, to drive it home, sometimes they were whipped or beaten at every stone. Then to the pub afterwards. Maybe we could resurrect this?

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1. Chris Bloor
  
  7th Jan 2025
  
  I think it was the stones that were beaten rather than the children. But perhaps that was just a namby-pamby modern version! Pub after wards sounds a good idea.
  
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steadyvoidf3c92096d5

7th Jan 2025

Perhaps we could do a short boundary stone walk and retire to the pub as part of our inauguration weekend?

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