Turkey Island - the lost consonant
For many years I lived on Turkey Island, a small tucked away corner of Hampshire. Here I discovered Enchanted England and started to write.
Everyone asks of course how it got its name… here are the theories:
Turkeys were once kept on Turkey Island common and were walked to Winchester for the Christmas markets.
During the first world war Turkish prisoners of war were kept on the common in a kind of open air prison.
The old road once was a toll road and the toll keeper had to ‘Turn the key’ to allow stages coaches gallop away on their journey to London and Portsmouth.
Finally, I think, this is a case of a dropped consonant. We have nearby a Mud Island and both Islands were probably - Mud Highland and Turkey Highland. I entered this poem as part of my M.A in creative writing at Winchester.