East Garston: stream-bed of the Lambourn, October 2018

Image: © Stefan Czapski Taken: 10 Oct 2018

'Bourn' is often met with in the names of streams in chalky counties such as Berkshire, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset - and is generally understood to indicate a stream which flows seasonally, drying up in summer. In this instance, the Lambourn seemed pretty much bone-dry in October - even though the summer's drought had been followed by a good deal of wet weather. At East Garston the stream-bed is crossed by at least five of these little pedestrian bridges, giving access to cottages. It occurs to me that a number of 'bourn' villages I've visited while Geographing have features in common - in that the stream has been canalised into a narrow bed, and the older dwellings are strung out along it, built directly on its banks. Economic use must have been made of the stream, even though it flowed for just a few months of the year. Winterbourne, West Berkshire, comes to mind Image Image and so does Image, in Wiltshire.

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