The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Turnpikes and the Posting Inns
are scattered all across the County; many tales... where to begin?
Perhaps, to paint a picture of the countryside, to show just why
so many Blackguards, Highwaymen and Footpads there, in wait, did lie.
Compassing round Gloucester Vale, the Cotswold Scarp that reaches steep
up to the High Wolds would confound the Mails... their schedules to keep;
and as the horses struggled up the hills; at length, the Wolds to see...
The Highwaymen would fall on them, to pillage with impunity.

There were five major Mail Coach routes across the County in those days.
The Bristol-Oxford-London route was favourite, in many ways;
the long climb out, up Dowdeswell Hill... three miles of twisting, shadowy lane;
then on to Shipton Bank... yet two more miles of sweating, tiring strain.
On into Compton Parish where, God speed... soon into sight, would come...
Puesdown; for a change of horses, and a rest for everyone.
The Puesdown Inn... a lonely refuge on the road to London Town;
crouching four-square on the High Wolds... sturdy built, of honeyed stone.

The Mail Coach had departed Bristol early, in the morning light,
but, by the time that they accomplished Puesdown... slowly crept the night
upon them... whilst the Postern loaded Blunderbuss decisively,
the travellers watched in trepidation, wondering what their fate would be.
Next morn, they need cross Compton Bottom... on up then, to Hangman's Stone
where stood the Parish Gibbet... and this Gibbet never stood alone
Always, someone neck-roped there; soft tinkling in the wind... their chains;
perhaps, some plough-boy blinded by the promise of ill-gotten gains.

Perhaps, some Highwayman whose luck ran out... as luck is bound to do.
Perhaps, some Footpad who slit one too many throats... for shillings, few.
Perhaps, some Blackguard who, not waiting for consent... despoiled some maid;
But, not as yet...The Duke; the Highwayman of whom, all were afraid.
The Duke... he prowled the Oxford road from Shipton Bank to Windrush Pike;
he gave no quarter to his prey... much like an Adder swiftly strikes.
The merest hint of least resistance, and his pistols... they would speak,
cutting down those who would dare gainsay the plunder he did seek.

Until, one night, he overplayed his hand whilst holding up The Mail.
A storm-swept, snow-blown wintering night... the night his pistol primings failed.
Calling them "Stand and Deliver"... firing, as they swift retired;
both pistols flashing in the pan... loads not discharging... both misfired!
Swift-wheeling round his mount to flee... the Postern did discharge a ball;
clatteringly, The Duke sped down the icy road... he did not fall.
Had they hit him? No-one knew; at Puesdown, though... they knew the score;
The Duke, swift bleeding from the chest, leaned, beating on the Taproom door.

But, they would not bid him enter... casements locked... doors barred, all sound.
Without the Inn... an hour or more, they say he dragged himself around,
dripping blood; beseeching mercy...a thing, his victims he denied.
They found him in the yard, next morn. Alone out there, he froze... and died.
The Parish Constables then bundled him off, up to Hangman's Stone,
and hoisted him upon the Gibbet... fettered, chained, to swing alone.
A grim, and awful warning to dissuade those culls, who thought to stray
into a life of easy pickings... robbing on the King's Highway.

The Road to Oxford long-since changed; a bypass now skirts Northleach Town.
The Puesdown Inn still stands four-square... still sturdy built, of honeyed stone.
The old road now has little use... odd courting couples... local folk;
but in the Hamlets there are stories; whispers... words not often spoke,
about strange things out on that ancient Coaching road near Hangman's Stone.
They say it's not a place to linger in the night... 'nor be alone.
They say The Duke still prowls this place, still seeking vengeance for his fate;
They say that if you hear the clattering hooves... then, for you... it's too late.

And, at The Puesdown Inn, they say, some guests hear bangings on the door
of what was once, the Taproom... perhaps, just the wind? No-one is sure.
They say you may hear footsteps dragging round, and round those Honeyed walls...
and rattlings on the casements... and soft groaning... but, what then, the cause?
For Puesdown is an Ancient Inn; its timbered beams all tired and worn;
they creak and groan as they cool in the night... was thus, a legend born?
Is it just wind out in the trees; soft whimpering on the Wolds, so high?
Or... is it, indeed, The Duke... still seeking somewhere warm to die?

The place is Gloucester City; I'm on foot patrol, Beat Number Five;
The time... 2-45am, the City dead; nothing alive.
Progressing through another lonely night-shift... not a soul around,
the dead streets echo to my footsteps; beyond that, the only sound
is the wind that whimpers through the narrow alleys, here and there;
I turn off Westgate Street, down into College Court... the thoroughfare
leading into College Green, where the great Cathedral lies.
The little passageway is shadowed; carefully, I cast my eyes
across the shop-doors... check the locks, shine my torch for better view;
then, by the The House of the Tailor of Gloucester... I walk beneath the arch into
College Green... the car park's silent... there in splendid majesty
towers the mighty stone Cathedral, into the night, in front of me.

My footsteps echo like the crack of doom upon the old flagstones
beneath the border of the trees that guard the crouching houses thrown
along the south side of the Upper Green, as I walk down to turn
into the precincts, skirting round the Great East Window; to discern
how many drunks and dossers I might find within this hallowed ground...
but as I pass the south transept... something makes me turn around.
There; by a small door, stands a cassocked figure in the shadowy light...
who lifts his hand and calls to me...
"Goodnight, my son; be safe, this night."
I study him; he's sixty-ish; he wears a beard... his face is thin;
As I make to answer him, he turns away and walks back in
through the door into the great Cathedral, and there, echoes, plain...
the screak of ancient hinges, and the rattle of the keys again...
being turned...

... how very odd. I'd better check all is secure...
it's very late for Godly works; and so, I carefully check the door.
Nothing moves; and so, I take up my patrol once more, around
the outer east end of the massive nave, where, in the past, I've found
the dead-beats, and the drunks, and dossers slumped against the buttressed wall...
but tonight, it's silent as the grave... there's no-one here at all.
I quietly walk on down the path towards the ruined infirmary...
a single, standing stretch of arched wall; where my footsteps hollowly
echo in the silence as I move on down to Miller's Green...
almost as if I'm being followed... but there's nothing to be seen.
But, even if there was... the shadows here are dark, with no street lights,
except the odd, wall-mounted lantern glowing dimly in the night.

This really is a creepy place at night; of that, there's little doubt.
I walk on past the end-wall arch and the echo following me, fades out.
My boots crunch on the gravel as I pass the Little Cloister House;
The ancient, timbered, stepped-up gables loom... all's quiet as a mouse...
when suddenly... a crash and clatter...
WHAT THE ******* WAS THAT?
I freeze... and then, a dark shape dashes out... it's just a sodding cat
rummaging the waste-bins; and I breath again... that was a fright!
Greenly eyeing me, the cat slinks off beyond the pool of light
thrown by the streetlamp on the corner. Miller's Green is dark and still;
before me looms the shadowed, vaulted passageway through which I will
walk back into College Green where, to my right, the Almonry
stands hard by St Mary's Gate; once, entrance to the Monastery...

that stood, in medieval times; here; I resume patrol again...
I pass beneath the gateway's ribbed arch, stepping into Three ***** Lane.
There before me, in St Mary's Square... the ornate Monument
to martyred Bishop John Hooper of Gloucester... recreant Protestant;
who never would recant, and thus, for heresy... at length, condemned
by ****** Mary; the, then Catholic Queen; would meet his gruesome end
by being burned alive at this same spot... where now, the only sound
is the mournful whimper of the wind, all softly spinning round
the intricate, carved stonework, as he gazes down towards the gate
as if to say... "Move on, my son; guard The Queen's Peace... it's getting late."
And so, I walk up Three ***** Lane, and turn back into Westgate Street;
patrolling up towards the City Centre, where the four Beats meet.

No sign of Tim on Southgate Three Beat... he must be down by the quay...
Ah!... there's Mike across on Four Beat... Hey! He's flashed his torch at me...
Hurry on up to The Cross... What's up?... He laughs; "I'm bored to hell...
it's quiet as a ****** grave... what's your patch like?... come on, do tell."
I smile; "It's much the same as yours... the only really big event
was... a **** cat raiding bins... d'you think that's "Loitering with Intent?"
Better not to mention what I think I saw in College Green...
it would rather blow the "Street-cred," and... I don't want to be seen
as twitchy... but I'll check it out this afternoon; you never know...
"OK" he says, "I'll see you later." and he turns away, to go
back down Eastgate Street, and I continue on my lonely Beat;
shining torchlight into doorways, down the length of Northgate Street.

After I had had some sleep, I came back down to College Green,
and entering the Great Cathedral, told the Verger what I'd seen;
asking him if all was well... he looked at me most curiously
then motioned I should follow him along the nave, to where would be...
the door; but when I looked, I could see nothing but a solid wall...
where the door should be... indeed, there was no sign of door at all.
He said there once had been a doorway here, three hundred years ago,
where they gave charity to beggars; but times change, alas... and so
the door was walled up solidly in Cotswold stone; three full feet wide...
the outer door was left in place; so as not to spoil the southern side
of the outer prospect of this Gothic architectural jewel...
I stood; mouth wide in disbelief... staring like some mindless fool.

He watched my face, and then he grinned; "What you saw son, there is no doubt;
was Bishop Hooper... at this time of year he often walks about
his Bishopric. You aren't the first young Copper... and won't be the last
to meet with Bishop Hooper at this time of year when you go past
the south transept as you patrol your patch, on down to Miller's Green;
the old, false door in the south-side nave... that's usually where he's seen
early in the mornings of the first few day of February...
always from that same old door, around the anniversary
of his death down on St Mary's Square, in 1555;
we've seen him once or twice in here... almost as though he's still alive.
Almost as if he's checking up to make sure all is safe and well
with Diocese, and Dean and Chapter... and not least... his Cathedral.

Coppers come and Coppers go... and Gloucester changes down the years;
So does the Policing; no more foot patrols... just area cars.
College green is gated now... and locked; so they cruise quietly past;
and Bishop Hooper, it would seem, has found his peaceful rest at last.
No hollow echoeing footsteps approaching from St. Michael's Gate;
No Constable on foot patrol... no need for him to quietly wait
at the old, false door to bid the Guardian of The Peace goodnight
as he patrols his beat... expecting drunks, and not a creepy fright!
Yes; Gloucester, it has changed since I patrolled those streets so long ago...
but College Green is much the same; it hasn't really changed, although
the big, old trees are pollarded... the shadows are not quite so deep...
but still... the atmosphere is here... and certainly, the chilly creep
and shiver, as his Monument looms, dark beyond St Mary's Gate...
and the wind gives plaintive moan in requiem to religious hate.

When the last Morning star softly fades in the dawning
of the pale, misty light of the last summer morning.
When the last blossom smiles in the last Sun-ray, beaming,
and the last story ends with all hopes, and all dreaming.
As the last swallow soars on the last winds a'breathing,
and the last butterfly lifts her wings, for the leaving...

I shall love you, still.

When the last Dragonfly spreads her wings in the warm glow,
for to dart her last flight in the last flowering meadow.
As the last leaves burn gold in the deep forest greening,
and the last Bumblebee dreams her last, honeyed dreaming.
As the last Swan glides down to the last river's wending,
and the last crystal spring softly flows to its ending...

I shall love you, still.

When the last Rainbow smiles through the last gentle shower,
and the last petal falls from the last fading flower.
As the last Skylark lifts, in her last spiral weeping,
And the last cloudling melts in the last azure deeping.
When the last birdsong rings through the last woodland glading,
and the last Eagle soars; her last, sad cry soft fading...

I shall love you, still.

When the last Mountain range crumbles down, swiftly breaching,
and whatever might be, is now far from the reaching.
When the last Ocean breaks her last wave, softly foaming,
and the last Sea-birds cry on the last breeze a'roaming.
As the last sands of time softly run to their dooming,
with the last precious hours of the last day swift looming...

l shall love you, still.

When the last Sun is goldening, with the last dusk a'creeping,
and the last Evening star shimmers to her last sleeping.
As the last pale moon drifts to her last wane-some flowering,
and the last twilight glim of the last day is lowering.
As the last stars grow dark, with the last night a'deeping,
and all that was once, is no more for the keeping...

I shall love you, still.

This thing called love is sweet indeed; and making love, a pure delight;
but, sometimes all one needs
is just a gentle cuddle in the night.

Laying in each others arms, somehow, makes everything seem right;
as worries fade, lost in the warmth
of gentle cuddles in the night.

Softly murmured words of love, as sleepy hopes and dreams unite;
sweet rhapsody of skin on skin;
soft, gentle cuddles in the night.

The whispering of a heartbeat; a soft lullaby, so sweet and slight.
The sweetest path to velvet slumber;
gentle cuddles in the night.

The softest sigh of gentle breath, teasing skin with faintest flight.
Luxuriant snuggling, close together;
gentle cuddles in the night.

Warm cradled in each others arms; safe, gentle cuddles in the night,
as slumber gently tip-toes in...
a murmur...
"Goodnight love, sleep tight."

Oh, sweet and pretty, careworn Lady; come and share a dream with me.
When you snuggle down at night, where do you go... what do you see?
Do you settle soft, in dreamland, like the gently setting Sun?
Or smother, in the arms of Princes ******... or Halcion?

For, they don't care about your spinning thoughts, and worries of the day;
no soft caress of fantasy; no sweet dream... that is not their way.
They cosh you chemically into oblivion, and they just don't care
that, in the morning, you will wake... and find your worries are still there.

Come softly to the borderlands of sleep... and gently tip-toe through
the mists of nothingness, and there... I promise, I shall wait for you,
or, if not me; some soft, remembered Lover? Or some past Old Flame?
It doesn't really matter who it is; the dream will be the same.

Come, slip away into the velvet night; for, here all things can be
yours...
some secret, sweet delight? Some magic place you long to see?
Some sweet, and softly sad romance that never learned quite, how to fly?
Cradle it soft in your dream, and fly with it into the sky.

To dance among the stars, whilst I caress away your lingering fears;
In this place, there is no heartbreak... in this place, you shed no tears.
In this place, is only love; in this place, is only You
and me...
and such love you find here is always perfect... always true.

Oh, sweet, and pretty, careworn Lady; come and share a dream with me.
When you snuggle down at night, where do you go... what do you see?
For I would weave you such a dream to stand time still, for just a while;
Come, slip away, and join me here...
Come, let me see your gentle smile.

If I were a better poet; then perhaps, a masterpiece, I'd write.
A lucid observation of some heady subject of our times.
The couplets structured perfectly; a deep, and meaningful insight,
but, would they hold the gentle truths I weave into my tenuous rhymes?

The answer, probably is, No... it's all down to the reason, why
I write at all. I've no ambition to seek Literary fame.
I try to touch your thoughts with mine; to share a soft, romantic sigh,
not coldly, wade through Dictionaries seeking critical acclaim.

I try to paint a picture with those words I use; a subtle hint
of colour in this grey, old world... and Watercolour is my choice.
Others lean towards Acrylics... Gouache, Oils; a sharper tint.
Perhaps, they choose more wisely... but, I much prefer a gentler voice.

For, in my poems, you will find a single thread that binds them all
together... this Romantic's dream; a spark, to light those darker days.
A soft caress for broken hearts... a small flame for those yet to fall
in love... as they most surely will. A light, perhaps... to guide the way.

These poems that I write may just be whimsy, with no merit, deep.
It really doesn't matter if they flourish... or, they fade and cease.
Yet, if  but, one small couplet slips into your dreaming whilst you sleep;
or brings a gentle smile... perhaps, it was indeed, a masterpiece.

And, that is all I seek to do; to touch a heart... caress a thought;
I have no use for Copyright; for Royalties... some Princely sum.
So, if some verse or couplet touches you the way I hoped it might...
please take it... Intellectual rights on Love belong to everyone.

In this modern world full of suspicion; lacking empathy;
political correctness, avarice, and crass mendacity
cloud the poet's vision... rosy-tinted, once; but now imbued
with caution; less some thought, or musing be abducted... misconstrued.

This soul-corroding attitude is not confined to poetry;
it sidles through relationships... blighting spontaneity,
scattering the seeds of doubt; of trust, creates a wilderness.
The true romantic doesn't stand a chance
with distrust manifest.

This is no bitter condemnation spurred by selfish, thwarted needs;
instead, a soft lament for things, perhaps, now lost... as we impede,
by selfish thoughts... misleading words; by nuances that give offence,
the flowering of true romance, thus choked by weeds of diffidence.

My poems strive to guide the thoughts... to light a path... to show the way
back to the time romance had rules; sweet etiquette, we all obeyed.
Taking one step at a time; hoping... Will it be tonight?
Each step, a breathless journey of discovery of new delights.

But, today; if I said "You're so beautiful" your thoughts might be
"He's just one more smooth-talking **** trying it on... perhaps, to see
if, with his soft, beguiling words, he manages to turn my head,
and, so bewitched... and, so besotted... I'll invite him to my bed."

Or, then... the young 'Stud' on the town... wandering hands, and wandering eyes.
Arrogant; as his perceived prowess amongst the girls, he tries.
'She's cute, and legal; great!... it really shouldn't take much more
than one or two big Margaritas...
then, my man... you're bound to score'.

So much then, for the modern concept of romance; a sad affair.
They really don't know what they're missing; I do, though... for I've been there.
The dreaming, and the longing for that special someone, in the night;
a single kiss that promises so much to come... such sweet delight.

I have loved and I have lost; I have longed for pastures new.
I have nurtured hopes and dreams quite hopelessly;
now... haven't you?
And, yet... there is one truth in all of this; if nothing else, believe
romance itself romances us... unless romance, we do deceive.