APRIL 159 



pigs or pheasants. Afterwards he began to re-plough the glebe- 

 piece, No. 38, on that side of the dyke which is reserved for 

 swedes, the remainder being kept for potatoes. 



It is very cold with a piercing wind to-day, and the night frosts 

 continue. 



April 24. To-day, Sunday, is also very cold, with east wind 

 and occasional bursts of sunshine. On my way to church I saw 

 a little whirlwind Roger's Blast is the local name tear across 

 the field and strike the road in front of us, lifting dust, bits of 

 sticks, and dead leaves high into the air, where they twisted round 

 and round in the form of a cone till the blast, which though small 

 was violent, passed on and left them. I have often seen these 

 miniature cyclones in Africa, but, so far as I recollect, very seldom 

 in England, and I never yet met any one who could explain 

 exactly what they are. When they do occur here the labourers 

 say that they portend fine weather. 



This afternoon I went to Bedingham, and as a rather feeble 

 bell was still tolling when I approached the church, I leant my 

 bicycle against a gravestone and entered. Altogether there were 

 about twenty people present in the ancient but somewhat 

 dilapidated building, of which the most uncommon feature is the 

 beautiful carved rood-screen that, from slots still existing in the 

 masonry, seems once to have filled the arch. Indeed, now that I 

 think of it, I remember the daughter of a former rector telling me 

 some years ago that in past days I believe within her own memory, 

 though of this I am not certain some of the carved work of this 

 screen was pulled down and used for fuel. The church is divided 

 into two almost equal parts by the screen, the chancel being much 

 larger than is usual, doubtless because in past generations it was 

 used for the accommodation of the monks, who had a private door 

 at one side of it communicating with the priory. 



About this fane, with its stonework stained by the dust and 

 damp of centuries, its mouldering monuments and marbles, its 

 worn benches and rough brick pavement, beneath which lie the 



