An old finger-post "Rose Cottage Farm" One Mile!
By an overgrown broken down wooden stile.
I stopped to ponder; to wonder a while!
Could this be the start of a country mile?

Over the stile lay a long forgotten track,
In the distance stood an old haystack.
Walking down the dusty old track!
Inwardly thinking, should I turn back?

My curiosity getting the better of me,
Urging me on to see what I could see.
Passing under an old dead Oak Tree!
A parliament of Rooks looking down at me...

Wandering into a valley full of charm,
Hidden behind trees; Rose Cottage Farm.
A field of hop poles just standing there!
Tangled hop vines like old witches hair.

Rose Cottage Farm now empty and bare.
The farmer and his family no longer live there.
Buildings and stone walls covered in moss!
A sign of our times; such a sad, sad loss.

By Jim Noond.