Dripping With History

We are on a site visit to St. Andrew’s Church, in Tom’s car, a people carrier. He apologizes for the detritus of children’s toys and discarded food wrappers, the material culture of a family life I have glimpsed only in relief. Sometimes Tom leaves early or arrives late to work when he picks up or drops off his boys at school. He talks often and fondly about them, even as he acknowledges the trials and tribulations of fatherhood, as part of a life packed with too many commitments: “Juggling too many things.” We drive along winding lanes, through the claustrophobically narrow valleys of Stroud, then up onto the tops, where the dark earth of freshly plowed autumn fields exposes a skeleton of drystone walls. This is a familiar landscape for Tom. As we drive he points out places of interest, houses the firm has built and projects that didn’t come off, along with buildings and details of architectural interest....