One of the most useful books on my shelf of cycling stuff is
"The Golden Wheels of Albert Winstanley" by Albert Winstanley. It isn't useful because it is packed with valuable information. It's useful because it encourages me to go out exploring on the bike. It takes an approach that some might find old-fashioned, but which suits me fine. On each of the trips that Albert describes he takes obvious delight in some aspect of history, the landscape, or just the name of a place. In that spirit I rode off this afternoon to explore some minor country lanes, and to find a stream called Cut Throat Letch.
I have no idea where the "cut throat" bit comes from, but in this context, letch comes from an Old English word,
leccan, which means to make something wet. It's related to the verb to leak. Around here it normally refers to a stream that runs slowly through a bog. And that's pretty much what we have here.
So it's nothing much to look at. But as a name for a destination you couldn't ask for much more. I have had a nice ride on quiet roads, and now I can drive the family nuts by going around for the rest of the evening saying
<pirate voice>"I've been to cut throat letch"</pirate voice>.
1 comment:
You know, I've always thought of myself as a reasonably adventurous sort of person, willing to do things that many others won't consider. With such an attitude one can easily become complacent, jaded even.
And then you tell me of such an obviously brilliant way of finding destinations, and I find myself realising that I have a LOT to learn yet!
:-)
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