CMMC – AN AUGUST ALPHABET CHALLENGE
All New England towns were built around a “common” area where originally, everyone was free to graze sheep and goats. Over the years, these green patches have lost the ungulates and gained a great deal of statuary and memorials. Uxbridge Common is so full of marble and big guns and statues, there’s almost no room for people.
In every city, big and small, the commons have a special place. Often they are the only “green” places remaining in the town. Public events are held there. Fairs, Christmas festival events, and every other state and national holiday, though I think the commons look best at Christmas.
In old English villages, town greens served essentially the same function. A lot of those greens disappeared during “modernization” and industrialization, but in older villages, you can still see that green section in the middle of town.
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Categories: #Photography, Anecdote, Cee's Photo Challenge, Challenges, landscape
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
Wow, that picture of the weir or cascading stairway looks like something from a post I put up just now about stately homes.
Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, country seat of the Duke of Devonshire… miles and miles of parklands with a vast ornamental cascade where members of the public can get their feet wet down the Duke’s immensely long water-splashing stone steps. I spent many a happy afternoon there in my early childhood. In fact, if you ever visit the UK you should definitely go…!
https://zadenzane.wordpress.com/2021/08/31/been-to-a-stately-lately/
PS am I the only one who feels autumn in the air already? I’ve been in a wintry mood for weeks and it’s months until the literal “fall” happens…
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These are great photos for this weeks CMMC 😀 😀
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Thanks, Cee. I went back and added one more for the Mumford river — one of the bigger tributaries of the Blackstone that runs through the middle of Uxbridge and is about 1 block from the commons. We are never far from a river 😀 Which is good because it is really, really HOT outside!
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Lovely gallery
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Thank you so much. The commons are where all the retired people like to gather in groups to sit and chat under the shade trees. When you are long past “beach” days, the common offers a pleasant, peaceful place. Bring your own folding chair. The marble benches get kind of hot.
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Learned something today. Thanks – I often wondered why all these Commons – makes perfect sense!
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It took me a long time to learn what they were too. I had to look it up. A lot of people don’t know what they were. It has been more than 250 years since sheep grazed on the common. But it’s still a nice shady place to relax in warm weather. Not today — it’s brutally hot right now.
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Lovely pictures of beautiful places.
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I think every town in New England has a common in the middle. We don’t have a lot of “new” towns. Everything was started between 1600 and 1800. Boston not only has a big common with a lake in the middle (and swan boats and a whole lot of ducks), but next door are the Public Gardens which are equally beautiful. I don’t know what they look like right now. It has been so hot and rainy, nothing is growing normally, but I used to love the commons. And the big park along the Charles River.
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I think that the way the cities were planned was great.
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I think is the older cities in the south, there may also be a common, but newer cities don’t have them. New York’s “common” is actually Central Park. I think it’s possible we got the idea from English villages.
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Probably!
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