Being a brick

Being a brick is undoubtedly a term of high praise, highlighting qualities of character and friendship such as reliability and constancy. Apparently the expression is said to have originated with King Lycurgus of Sparta, who, questioned about the absence of defensive walls around his city replied ‘There are Sparta’s walls,’ he replied, pointing at his soldiers, ‘and every man is a brick.”

It is however quite the same thing which might have been said by P G Wodehouse’s character Bertie Wooster as his butler Jeeves saved him once more  from some unfortunate caper. Equally I can imagine Lady Mary or another character in Downton Abbey may have said it most approvingly…  but in any case it is a comment still exclaimed here at Highclere.

We do have plenty of walls and bricks here and of course leaving such expressions aside, there is a practical, constant need to rebuild or repoint. I have actually tried to help build a wall and there is a rhythm and process which was addictive but I do need much more practise in order not to be simply a liability with trowel and mortar. Having started to help (or not) however I wanted to continue.

Here at Highclere we are once again preparing for our history festival weekend. This year we are looking at life here in World War 2, with of course our own Winston Churchill returning to walk amongst us. One of Churchill’s pastimes to ‘chill out’ was to lay bricks, build a wall, something entirely manual. Something like this helps develop concentration and detaches our minds from everyday stresses.

Many of us spend a considerable portion of our days reading emails, answering them, discussing issues and plans, convening meetings, answering seemingly endless questions and, in my case, writing articles.

One hundred and fifty years ago the 4^th Earl was also sitting here researching matters of discussion as a Minister in Queen Victoria’s government, distilling meetings and information and, at that time, handwriting letters in reply. He noted in his diaries the many walks he took to relax from thinking about knotty political issues and mentions his fondness for translating Ovid to while away the time on train journeys.

Hominins first appeared some six million years ago but the beginning of the Homo sapiens lineage probably dates only to about 550,000 to 750,000 years ago with the written word  developing only in the last 7000 years. Therefore our physical and our subconscious behavioural traits and reactions have slowly developed over millennia of using tools and making things. Communicating through the ever more sophisticated use of language is a relatively shorter span of time – thus our current recorded writing evolution is only about 0.01% of the lineage of our race.

In order to understand where we are today it is always worthwhile seeking to understand the past. The evolution of homo sapiens and why and how we developed the way we have is, scientists point out, due to our ability to walk and move, to build things, solve problems and to live together.

Part of our dexterity and brain development was due to a change in diet which led us to eat mineral rich seafood. Basically, the seafood is rich in the omega 3’s (DHA), the more DHA the brighter the animal or mammal and humans have exceptionally high levels.

Archaeology has discovered that wherever early man is found, there is evidence of seafood consumption with the remains of shells and fish bones. This applies whether it is caves in South Africa where early remains were found with sea shells, or to Wales where a 40,000 year old Homo sapiens was found in the Gower peninsular with DNA evidence showing that a quarter of his diet was seafood.

According to the World Health Organisation, evidence today suggests that our brain size has reduced by 10 per cent. Arguably the digital age has put more stress on our brain function so there is an argument that we might need even more nutrients to maintain premium function. Unfortunately too many of us now eat the ultra processed food peddled by food manufacturers with their chemically induced instant feel good factors. Unfortunately, over stimulation of our systems by these chemicals actually depletes our dopamine. Serotonin levels decline as does tryptamine which are associated with happiness, connection, love, empathy and all those qualities which make us human.

Conscious of long hours spent in front of a computer, I make great efforts to try to ensure I spend time outside each day, walking along tree lined tracks or talking to my dogs or simply doing some gardening. I have huge respect for those putting another brick in the wall yet think that at heart I am a gardener rather than a bricklayer, but hope I might still qualify for the epithet of “being a brick”!