(Copyright - (c) ron squire steffey, 12/25/2007): SECRETS: How to discover, adventuring, over ten (1) miles of trails throughout 1,200 acres of mostly woodland...how Patrick Henry was connected to the Sunken Garden?...the deer that live waaaaay back in the trail area near Mill Neck Road! Right in the middle of Williamsburg, an urban area, is this 1,200 acre oasis of woodlands, small streams and a Lake Matoaka. At one time, there was a rumor going around, some time ago, that a chunk of that acreage should be sold off...the College said NO!
a- The PLAYERS DELL! - the natural amphitheatre, surrounded by woods, was dedicated in 1934...and not longer exists. Solving the mystery has taken me some extra researching, but it's location has been uncovered! Take a walk around behind Landrum Hall and look up. Noticed the very tall line of pine trees, then look more closely. The trees form a close path behind the dorms there, headed towards Landrum Road...and stop at the road! The neat Players Dell was just across Landrum Road. A forest began there and all the way over to lake Matoaka. Today, it's clear, except to near Jamestown Rd. The tall pines path is still there!
Landrum Road curved around in front of Landrum Hall and in front of the now Crim Dell pond! NO other roads past there or any of the buildings around Swem! The Players Dell had simple 'log' seats and, for years, was home to many quality outdoor productions of all kinds. I have yet to uncover when it was taken apart, ceased to function as a viable Campus asset.
b- SQUIRREL POINT! It's the point in Lake Matoaka directly across from the amphitheatre. If you stand down at the Lake behind the new stage cover roof, and look across, you can see the Point and the early steps leading to the water. When The Common Glory and The Founders was staged at the theatre back in the 1950s to early '70s, those steps were used in the plays! You CAN get to the Point, no boat, by taking the second trail on Compton Drive behind our new Rec Center. Follow that second trail to the first left trail...go a few minutess and take the second left trail, which takes you directly to Squirrel's Point!...the end of that trail. Soooo worth the walk through the College Woods!
c- Finding the "BEWARE" sign on Campus! Walk to the far end of our Sunken Garden, opposite the Wren. Climb the low curving railing on the McClothlin-Street Hall side of the Sunken Garden and bear to the left, slightly, to see the bamboo growing down the incline. You'll see a tree there with a rustic small sign that says "BEWARE". Still trying to uncover why it's there, for some time!...and by whom?
d- The rustic sign behind Ewell Hall and Jefferson Hall and is in the middle of a huge, spreading tree. That unusually shaped tree was, for the first time in years, trimmed of the branches that created a canopy over the fat limbs low to the ground. If you move right up close to the main perpendicular trunk, now, adjust your eyes and locate the tiny sign nailed to the trunk. Someone has printed over the old note, now...last spring it 'said' that the spot was a drinking place. Now...well, you can take a walkabout Campus and read for yourself.
e- There was a COLLEGE FARM...have seen pics of it. The College Farm was along Jamestown Road, open and cultivated, from Barrett. The rest of the are was forested on Jamestown Road to Lake Matoaka. All of the open space that you now see on Ukrop's Way, W&M Hall, dorms, new Rec Center and even Compton Road were...woods! Fresh veggies were supplied by the Farm!
f- The Jamestown Road PEDESTRIAN TUNNEL is still there but sealed. At times, would partially fill with runoff water. Did, for a time, provide a way to go from the old Campus (Wren) to the original Campus Center. Trinkle Hall, older, was connected to the Center. And the Center's original name was---THE WIGWAM. Check out the old Campus Center's bathrooms....1960s vintage!
g- The College of William and Mary IS a UNIVERSITY! "College" is kept for tradition!
h- The cute, lonely little BRONZE DUCK on Campus? Walk to the now closed road at Crim Dell. Look over to Wildflower Refuge sign...the wooden platform for classes or meetings...then just slightly to the left of those in the leaves by the walk...look carefully, especially now with the leaves. Don't give up until you scratch around to locate that widdle duck...and read why it's there...'K?
i- The small sanctuary GARDEN at the end of the Sorority houses at "College Corner" (Richmond, Boundary and Jamestown)! Take a few minutes, I hope, to uncover what's there...tiny pool and sprite...flowers...paths...and don't forget to go around the front of the fence to check out the two markers. Forgot, there's one marker (plaque) inside the garden!
j- The OLD WOODEN GAZEBO on the hillside in the Wildflower Refuge! You need to see this one, really. It's a 'relic' from way back and in poor shape. Walk down to the road at dam end of the Crim Dell pond. Find the bronze WILDFLOWER REFUGE sign. Take the 'new' brick walkway on the opposite side of TINKLING RILL (REAL stream name) from the Refuge sign. Walk a minute into the woods ravine, until you see the original trail on your left, going up into the woods. It's an OLD trail with an iron rim, both side, marking the trail. That very old trail will take you up on the hillside in the woods! Within a minute or three, you'll see, up high, the NEAT wooden gazebo in the middle of the woods!! Two benches...sit a spell...meditate...relax...take a friend and chat. Up there on the hillside, you'll see the steep walkway taking you back down to Tinkling Rill (rill is a very small stream) and the newer brick walkway. Add some ADVENTURE outdoors to your busy university life...please! This has to be my current pick for "NEAT" spot on Campus.
k-Hmmmm...betcha didn't know about the old '6os(?) truck ruins along one of the Campus Woods trails? Now you will, BUT, you're going to have to learn about the importance of ADVENTURES in YOUR life! Suggest you locate one of my "the Squire's Way" blogs (on this site) on ADVENTURES. Ready? The old truck ruins, I think, were left by the Navy, and I have not uncovered why. Parts of it are scattered around the ruins by the trail, and every year or so are painted with grafitti. How to find it? Bestest way is to go to the intersection of Monticello Avenue and Ironbound Road and park in one of the lots there. Walk, safely, back across the interesection down Monticello, towards W&M, for just a minute or three. You WILL see the prounced W&M Woods trail at that time. Great W&M hiking trail. In just a few minutes, from that intersection, there it is!...the truck ruins smack dab in the Woods. If you were to proceed farther along that trail, it would take you, keeping left, to Compton and behind the W&M Rec Center! Go for it....
l- CRIM DELL! Our College of William and Mary not only has one but two unique physical places that set if off nationally as a campus with top notch assets...the other one is our Sunken Garden. There was a pond, where it is now, that had fallen into disrepair and for years. In my opinion, and many others, W&M PRES. DAVIS PASCHALL was a true visionary. He could "see" what was needed for the Campus to evolve into a quality natural campus setting, as opposed to rows of buildings with classrooms.
And he went after it, with the help of so many. "...that one may walk in beauty, discover the serenity of the quiet moment, and despel the shadows." He said that on May 7, 1966 at the dedication of Crim Dell on Parents Day. Crim Dell, as we know it today, was created in memory of JOHN W. CRIM, a distinguished alumnus of the Class of 1901.
The inclose trails are still visible today, marked by metal strips enclosing the trail. Please, take the time to explore around the pond (small lake), all the way around it! Finally, the vegetation has been trimmed! In the small meadow near the end of the Sunken Garden, you'll discover the "Spring" bronze figures lazing on the woodland floor. (More later). Most adventurers miss the close and nearby bamboo and woods trails in and around that small meadow on the hillside. In there is that earlier mention "BEWARE" sign tacked on a tree. And the outdoor artwork? At one end of the pond, in the water, are the bronze figures of a heron, wren and turtle! (More later). Did you see the two HUGE redwoods by the coed and collegian, "Spring"? There are two benches under the redwoods in that small meadow at the edge of Crim Dell to sit and meditate, chat or close your eyes and listen to a vibrant, alive campus all around you, no matter the season!
m- "SPRING"...the coed and the collegian in the little meadow between the far end of the Sunken Garden and Crim Dell woods! Nearby, are two of the campus HUGE redwoods. The two statues were dedicated in 1979. They both seem soooo real. PLEASE take some time and walk over and examine, closely, the many fine details. His watch, time...her hair...the top book is missing from the pile. Not sure how and when. But, the biggest "crime" occured when a pissant/s knocked off the top of her love letter. It was found nearby after it occurred and reattached. A pissant/s knocked it off again and took it, for good...notice that the love letter she is reading is incomplete. There is an exact copy on another campus, and someone helped me find the complete love contents (will be shared soon).
n- Walking across the crosswalks on Jamestown Road and Richmod Road! PLEASE help this alum start a revolution at these two locations! Most of you know that there is a local city ordinance (law) giving crossers THE rightaway WHEN IN the crosswalk. For years, there has been friction between, enough, townspeople and students. I have been both and understand both sides. And this guy has, for years, been concerned with how to solve the contention every year...for years! The solution, I believe, is a simple one for both drivers and crossing students. And it involves a simple, respectful wave of a hand, signifying "thank you" as a student walks across and even a tiny smile or appreciation of thanks for stopping! For the drivers in return? Likewise, a simple wave of thanks and appreciation for your kind gesture. It would even hep to actually look at a driver's eyes, too. Start a revolution at those two brief encounters between local drivers and W&M students. Being on the local side, townies at times feel that students have their noses stuck up...perception? I honestly practice this simple consideration both ways...when I'm walking on Campus, often with my Nikons, I now have a small wave and mouth a "thank you" to drivers as I cross! As a driver, I really pay attention and watch way ahead for students ready to use the crosswalks! START A REVOLUTION by influencing others to held...thanks, guys...squire.
o- MATOAKA TRAIL walkabout! Take an afternoon, or morning, one weekend and, with a friend or friends, take a walkabout on OUR Campus. The Matoaka Trail is sorta short. Can start right behind the Rec Center and walk along the edge of much of Lake Matoaka, with spots there to exercise. That trail curves in and back along the lay of the Lake. Can see, above, the back of the soccor field. Will discover many unique tree root formations and a few primitive bridges. Neat views of the Lake tributaries, too. Trail takes you right past the Keck Field Lab, but keep going on past it on the trail and eventually out behind Dupont Hall. You could go in reverse and begin behind Dupont and come out behind the Rec Center beside Compton. Matoaka Trail is about a mile and a half.....more trails coming! Remember, there are over ten (10) miles of trails on our 1,200 acre Campus!
p- "AFRICA"...the ceramic wall mosaic large piece of artwork on the Campus appeared, for some time, to be have been forgotten over the years but no longer! Plantings around the art prize have been trimmed. You can discover the wall mosiac around back, and down, from the Campus Center on Jamestown Road. A ceramics class chose, as their class project, to design and "fire" large mosaics of Africa. Each student had a portion to design and create. It's outstounding! Across from the Ceramics Studio is the children's school. Little secret? Look up to the left...the individual students signed their creation for posterity...another original asset on the Campus of the College of William and Mary. This is probably my #2 "NEAT" spot, currently, on our Campus.
q- Our SUNKEN GARDEN!...check out the marker at the top of the steps going down into the Garden!...please read the marker about Patrick Henry. Young Henry helped to train W&M students when the Garden was a field, to march to Yorktown in 1981 to meet Gen. Washinton to do battle with the British Gen. Cornwallis. A visionary Pres. made sure that the huge field right in the middle of the Campus would be forever a vista, without buildings being "seen"....
r- DEER...and the 10+ miles of trails in our College Woods. There is one MAIN and LONG trail from Compton Rd. (next to the Rec Center) over and through the woods to Mill Neck Road near Jamestown Rd. Keep straight on it! Several trails branch off. Over the years, people have actually "dug" new trails for variety and shortcuts, BUT can see which one is THE old main trail. it goes on for at least 5 miles! About halfway, the trail heads down through a low area with a marshy stretch, small stream and then heads back up a steep section of trail. Last time there, I came upon two does drinking...sunlight was right on them! Past the steep area you will come on to heavily eroded sections! In that area closer to Mill Neck, and right before you go up to the flat area that levels off into Mill Neck Road, is a neat tiny pond, with a tiny island and tree in the middle of it!...large stag bounded away from it!
s- Upstairs on the 3rd floor of the SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN BLDG. was my sanctuary. To get away from the madding crowd, I used to take my bookpack and slip up there and crawl into one of those deep window wells overlooking the Sunken Garden to study and write. It was my "thinkin' sanctuary." The earlier original Wren was THE only building for classes and dining back in the later 1700s. Thomas Jefferson lived, studied and dined there! Shhhh...while up there studying in a window well, I could look down and "smile" at the TOURISTS.
t- Our LORD BOTETOURT Statue.... Even though Norborne Berkeley, Lord Botetourt, serve only two years as our Governor, but was quite popular at the College and in town. A statue was ordered and placed at the old Capitol from 1699 to 1780. For protection during the Revolutionary War, Gov. Jefferson had it moved to Richmond for security reasons. In 1801 W&M purchased the statue and moved it back to the Campus and in front of the Sir Christopher Wren College Yard. During the Civil War, it was moved again, for protection from the Union soldiers, to the Public Asylum (Easter State Hospital) for more protection! In 1958 Lord Botetourt was removed from the yard, elements, and boarded up, until 1966 and exhibited in the Botetourt Gallery, where it now, the original statue, proudly on display deep inside Swem.
The one you see, now, is a bronze copy by W&M alumnusm Gordon Kray, and was displayed in 1993 at the 300th Tercentenary anniversity. PLEASE go on an adventure to the center of Swem to see the original statue...parts missing.
The bronze statued of Botetourt in the College Yar is today the scene of periodical "events", like GOLD and GREEN balloons mysteriously appearing overnight...and College jam sessions, meals. W&M has unique traditions connected with the Statute...dressing "it" up and hanging wreaths on his outstretched hands. Recently, I photographed a small cup of flowers poised on the edge of his gown. This alum has photographed many scenes of the popular Virginia royal governor. My faves are always when it SNOWS!!...whenever we're lucky enough!...squire
u- The YULE LOG Ceremony!...Saturday evening at 6pm...December 13th...a bit of history mixed with W&M's tradition of bringing in the Yule Log and tossing in a sprig of holly, symbolically cleansing the upcoming year of those nasty worries and troubles! Hot spiced cider and sugar cookies will be out and about for all, beneath the Wren Courtyard's cressets spewing and popping over the wind, with pure fun for all! Maybe, just maybe, that rotund jolly guy will stop by...maybe Mr. Stenk/Stank/Stunk Grinch will sneak into the ceremony to steal something?
v- Still believe, as I stated in a much earlier blog, that it could be possible that our Lake Matoaka, with its many banks and tributaries (fingers) out and about the College Woods, just could be the home of a...a creature, an urban legend, that lives in the dark waters of our Lake! i named the possible Lake Matoaka creature...'POKA'....and first introduced this theory some time ago before anyone else had ever thought of it! Please refer back to 'POKA' in my Blog #35. Discovered that someone recently, in a blog, picked up on my W&M urban legend theory and mentioned it. Am glad that others are beginning to discover and believe that something does possibly exist in the many FINGERS of our Lake Matoaka. Is it a form of "flattery" when one copies another's ideas?
w- ANCIENT SHELLS! On my last exploratory hike on the loooong College Woods trail, where I saw the deer in a pasture-like area at the bottom of a steep segment of the trail to the Jamestown Rd. area, I picked up some shells exposed by the eroded trail. Plan to go back to poke around for some more in better shape. And also plan to ask a prof for an ID.
x- JOSEPH SHELTON WATSON...1801 W&M grad. A series of William and Mary Campus indepth essays on trails, outdoors artworks and neat Campus places was published in the local Virginia Gazette. Virginia Gazette, America's oldest newspaper, published my watercolor of the Watson hot-air balloon and a brief. One essay was an indepth research on the trails around Crim Dell. The Toano-Norge Times published my research on Joseph Shelton Watson last summer and a pictorial essay on the outdoor artworks of our Campus. But the one that introduced my fave subject, our 1801 grad Joseph Shelton Watson, was that essay in TNT that you need to read and is online. My research on this W&M grad was in progress for over a year, taking me to Louisa County, his home, and the Va. Historical Society in Richmond. Please walk, at least, over to the intersection, on the W&M Campus, at Richmond Rd. and Scotland Street. You'll discover a Virginia Marker briefly describing W&M grad Joseph Shelton Watson's "Virginia's First hot-air Balloon Flight" story!
aa- The Flower Gardens out and about the W&M Campus: in the tiny W&M sign spot where Jamestown Rd. meets Boundary...along the front of the Commons Dining Hall, across from W&M Hall...garden in front of Swem Library, surrounding the ancient sundial...along the slight hill rise in front of the Alumni House! Well, State budget cuts will curtail these fabulous flower gardens considerably that we've grown accustomed to this coming spring and summer!!! Private funds, that's you, Alumni, townfolk and students, will be needed...soon!
bb- The College Farm...visualize, please, along Jamestown Rd., from across Landrum at Barrett Hall, towards the new Mason School. That front portion along Jamestown was College Farm...vast woods was behind where Swem is today, over to Lake Matoaka.
cc- Thomas Jefferson slept here!......
Our 3rd U.S. President graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1762, completing all studies in two years. Remember, degrees were quite different from then to now. He lived, studied and took his meals all in the original Wren. One revealing comment that I uncovered once hinted that he didn't think much of the town in front of the College and didn't spend time out and about there...except for a tavern or so. However...he must have listened, intently, and even participate in the always lively confab by the local thinkers of the day, including someone by the name of...Patrick Henry. Young Thomas, later in life, also had to have been influenced by and with his young friends at the College, to understand his vast knowledge and writings later. Those early friends remained so into his adult life.
My readings, studies, centered around Jefferson, have personally grown by volumes over the years. This historian and author feels that I have a good grasp, 360-degrees, with this 18th century American icon.
dd- Ice House Cove!...begins at Lake Matoaka and goes, as a cove, into the College Woods by the Lake Matoaka Art Studio. Small rill behind the Garage and Adair Hall (pool) The tiny rill (stream) actually comes from the Crim Dell "dam" down to the Wildflower Refuge (sign) and along the ravine into the ice House Cove. Another good opportunity for you to go on a walkabout on Campus...an adventure! Oh, history says that there was an ice house up in that cove. That's all I've been able to uncover...not details, yet.
ee- The WOODEN STRUCTURES outside beside our Phi Beta Kappa Hall. The Architectural Design studio students, under the direction of Prof Ed Pease, hold an in-class competition for the students of his classes to design wooden structures in response to a problem statement. The students vote on a winner, and, as a class, actually build the winning scheme on their last day of the semester. (They're gone, now!)
ff- A short walkabout! Walk across Compton, backside, and head for just a minute towards Monticello. Look, across from back of new Rec Center and notice the first of two separate trails that go up the hill in the woods. Both will come out on a dead-end street taking you to Richmond Road, near the Williamsburg Shopping Cener (Bloom). If you visualize in your mind, through the woods beside our new Rec Center, and Compton (goes to Monticello), the huge new Dept. of Education Bldg. is being built off Monticello closer to Wmsbg. Shopping Center/Richmond Rd. I asked this spring if a trail could cut through the woods, on that small hill, paralleling Compton Road (shortcut) from Campus to the Dept. of Ed. bldg. Problem? Marsh and small creek around the bottom of the hill there, necessitating a long foot bridge over it. When you're at the new Ed. bldg., looking down the hill, you don't notice the marsh!
The woodland bridge would make a neat campus addition. Anyone want to donate some $$$$? Anyway, here's another campus adventure for you and some friends to explore with a WALKABOUT! I've given you plenty of walkabout adventures here to explore our campus. Never...say you are bored in our 'burg!
gg-
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