A temporal landmark

As you know, I've been thinking a lot about landmarks over the last couple of months and I've also begun to think about time. Well, current events have made realise that there is a certain type of landmark that doesn't just tell you where you are, it tells you when you are as well.

From my posts here, you could be forgiven for thinking Runnymede to be a timeless pocket of nature which ebbs and flows with the seasons but fundamentally stays the same and to a degree you would be right. Ultimately however it is not a natural environment but a collaboration between man and nature that has developed over two millennia or more. As with anything managed by man, there are occasional, sudden changes and there have been two such changes this week.

Firstly, the first crop of hay of the year has been cut, left for a couple of days to start to dry, baled and taken in. Second, the fairground has arrived.

Seeing the hay being cut tells you that from a weather point of view, given the particular spring we had this year, it is midsummer. The fair turning up, in Egham at least, means its around about midsummer from a calendar point of view as well. The fair gives an extra level of precision - is it open? are people coming or going? are the lights in the caravans on? The hay gives us extra information too - the farmer thinks the weather is going to be fine for a few days.

A particular hay meadow isn't distinctive unless it is in isolation; its hedges may be but the grass isn't at first glance. I wonder if its a landmark at all, or if its actually a timemark.