It is truly wonderful to be able to
walk at this time of year. We have already had a few grey skies and
chilly days now to really appreciate the bright sunshine and warming
sun of a fine autumnal day. Yesterday was such a day. The sun shone
bright and the clouds that caused the overnight rain scudded high
above us as we climbed up Holly hill, Dargate.
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| Looking out and down the hill. |
We stood to one side of the Bracken
fringed path to let a group of walkers past and in our stopping we
were able to marvel at the view down the hill, across the fields
towards the Thames estuary. I could pick out the curve of the coast
from Seasalter westwards and locate a few boats moored on the Swale
at Oare. Looking beyond them, the atmospherics allowed a series of
clear outlines of varying horizons, similar to a theatre set, mapping
the distances away from us.
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| A naturally framed view. |
One of my favourite books, 'Country
Bunch- an anthology of the countryside' by Miss Read has a piece by
Eleanor Farjeon on the poet Edward Thomas. In it she explains how
Edwards father had given his children a piece of sage advice, to
'keep your senses fresh' and how Edward was able to do this, even as
a soldier in the first world war.
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| Stormy sky clearing more sunshine. |
'He could not live a day in the
open air without being given something to 'enjoy enormously'; clear
weather, flat shingle, a line of trees, the tallness of a church
tower on a marsh, even a row of huts- he liked what he saw. And knew
that nobody else liked it as much as he did.'
This is how I feel on such a gift of a
warm, bright and sunny early autumnal day. I feel by making time and
walking in nature, slowing down and allowing myself to observe, to
'look beyond looking', I can really feel connected to the place.
Walking with others especially other observant artists is a very
simple and enjoyable pleasure.
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| Walking speed, amongst the fallen leaves. |
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| These lager fir trees on the top of the hill are a local landmark. |
We stood leaning against a farm gate
on the way back down the path and were happy to chat and point out to
each other what we could see. Large black birds, perhaps crows, were
spiralling up ahead of us, making a great noise and commotion. The
longer we looked the clearer it was that they were mobbing a couple
of larger Raptor type birds, who nonchalantly spiralled up higher
into the sky.
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| Looking through the abundance of Rose hips, by the path edge. |
A couple of Dragonflies and a Peacock
butterfly flew over and displayed their own precious beauty to us. It
did not go unnoticed. We 'enjoyed enormously' both the breadth of the
distant view and the closer treasures that we observed.
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| The views were extensive. |
Our senses were awakened and we could
clearly hear and feel the crunch of the abundance of acorns that
covered the path back down to the car. The wind started up with a
chill in it and we gratefully got into the sun-warmed car to find a
local pub to have lunch.
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| The path out of the woods, thick with fallen acorns. |
I
will be opening the doors of my beautiful straw bale studio once
again this year to exhibit my own and Alison Lees work as part of
the Canterbury Festival, the theme is still 'The Spirit of Place' as
it is an ongoing art project based in Kent.
You
can keep up to date with our explorations and discoveries by looking
at www.facebook.com/EastKentSpiritOfPlace
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| Inked imprint of feathers, found on a previous walk. |
Open
times are 11-5 daily on the weekends from 14-29th
of October. We can be found at house number 25 on the Whitstable
trail. Please see the webpage www.ekoh.org.uk
for more information.
