Aquae Arnemetiae

A young soldier soaks tired bones dreaming of olive groves. A captive queen unpicks a thread embroidering her life’s story. A man with a purple nose steps into a sedan chair. A train steams into the station and Paxton jumps onto his platform. A horse blows steam waiting for his groom. A young woman opens a letter and dreams of becoming a nurse. A nurse observes her patients watching from the quiet balcony. Frank Matcham builds for gaiety and the Beatles play the Opera House. Brian Clarke designs a stained glass roof and a bride flings her bouquet into the Dome. Snow stops play in June whilst old ladies shop for vests at Potters. The water flows from St Anne’s well. The goddess dances in the grove. And all the while Foucault’s pendulum swings measuring the earth’s rotation.