The Coleridge Way Extension

Left to right, Suzette Hibbert,
Rosemary Coleridge Middleton, and Andrea Davis.

On Wednesday 21st May, the Coleridge Way was extended from it's 36 mile length to a very healthy 51 miles, linking Nether Stowey, in the Quantock Hills, to Lynton in North Devon, through some truly stunning West Country landscape.

As part of the opening ceremony buses were put on, which dropped walkers on the hills to the West of Porlock, at a place called Broomstreet. From there the walkers descended along 2 miles of stunning scenery into Malmsmead and Oare.

En-route the trail did not disappoint with shows of wild red deer, fabulous sunshine, and even a bat was seen catching flies over the river in the afternoon sun.

At Oare after paddling through the river, the company were rewarded with cream teas and speeches in the presence of a whole spectrum of Coleridge descendants, which culminated in the 'cutting of the ribbon' ceremony by Coleridge's Great, Great, Great Granddaughter, Rosemary Coleridge Middleton, pronouncing the Coleridge Way Extension Open.

Rosemary Coleridge Middleton

  

Rosemary Middleton Coleridge expressed delight at seeing so many people at the opening and said: 

'Walking actually concentrates the mind, soothes the soul and helps sort out problems. It is a healer of the mind, body and spirit and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, my great great great Grandfather, knew this. I’m very proud to say that it is indeed the Coleridge way of doing things! Keep moving, love thinking, do praying, keep talking, just toddle, but if possible do walk.'

Somerset Printmakers at Coleridge Cottage

A very simple post just bringing your attention to the Exhibition at Coleridge Cottage (NT) on until Monday the 12th May from a great list of Somerset Printmakers all inspired by the Poet.

Poetry in motion

Next month Christopher Jelley will be installing the next batch of Coleridge Way QR Code Poetry along the original 36 mile section of the trail. Last year this type of poetry was installed in several places including Nether Stowey, Webbers Post and Dunster's Conygar Tower.  The codes were laser etched onto slate and installed mainly in larger tablet sized form, with the exception being Watery Lane which is at the foot of the Coleridge Way trail. Here he installed small badge sized tiles (pictured) and it was thought that works in 2014 should continue in this style as far along the trail as was feasible.

QR Code poem nestling on a finger post, scan if you want to read!

Last year's poetry connected with three local schools with pupils aged between 7 and 11, and this year we have managed to up that to five schools, producing nearly 100 poems. This work (see other posts) was basically a response to the Somerset landscape, much of it along the Coleridge Way, answering the questions, what do you see, hear, feel, etc.

These poems were then whittled down to 80 or so and are at the etchers as I write, hopefully producing enough poetry tiles to cover a good section of the 36 miles of gates and sign posts from Nether Stowey to Porlock. Christopher say's 'I am really proud to be placing the words of the little authors back into the landscape which inspired them. The workshops with the schools are always full of surprises, one child wrote 'My hand is turning into a mermaids hand' magic,'

The canopy above the Cist at Dunster Woods near Roadwater
along the Coleridge Way trail.

So how do we read the poetry?

Very simply you'll need to install an app in your smart phone, but don't worry, as there are lots of free ones available.

QR Codes are often termed square bar codes, we have been familiar with regular strip shaped bar codes for over a generation now, these are the ones on the backs of books or packs of sausages. They are just strings of numbers which the scanner reads, but with a square QR code they can include letters, numbers and other characters too.

Today you'll see them everywhere, on the backs of vans, newspaper adds or promotional links. Most often these point to web sites which the scanner then feeds you conveniently through to. But that is a level of sophistication which we don't need here, out on the Moors there is little if any reception, so linking to a website would simply not work. But if we use QR codes in their simplest form, to reveal plain text, then we can encode short stanza's of poetry inside. Your smart phone decodes through its lens and you can read the hidden words without internet reception, it's all done in the handset.

The Cist clearing at Dunster Woods near Roadwater
along the Coleridge Way trail.

So before you embark (and leave wifi and data zones behind) install a scanning app in your smart phone, there are lots to choose from as QR codes have been around for about 20 years. Choose a free one which will do everything you will need and possibly a lot more. Install it and give it a go scanning anything that you see, my photograph of the finger post above works, and newspapers are often full of them.

So here are two examples of the pupils poetry, both were written by Stogursey Primary school children, they are inspired by their walk at Hodders Combe which was a favourite haunt of Coleridge and the Wordsworths.

1

as I walked through the lush green Hodders Combe

I heard the birds tweeting

morning greetings

as I wondered through the sunny Hodders Combe

I saw a fence protecting people from fallen trees

in the morning breeze

the beautiful sun was beaming like a star

as I walked through the calm Hodders Combe

I got to the enchanted river

I saw the freezing cold water fighting it's way

over the gleaming fallen tree log

2

it was a lovely summers day

birds were singing happily

a chainsaw was stretching like an animal

birds were whisking

I saw an extremely fluffy sheep

and webs that looked like stars

I smelt the minty moss

and elf ears in the trees

there were pretty leaves everywhere

then I got pricked

Stogumber School QR code poetry

Monday 24th March and it's Stogumber and Crowcombe Schools turn to explore the Coleridge Way in Monksilver. The day started with a rather circuitous bus journey which avoided a single S bend, and took 30 mins rather than 10! Undaunted the children were quickly put on task with great support from Stogumber school.

Mr Jelley and Mrs Mash guided the pupils up an ancient Hollow Way which rises out of Monksilver and sits pretty much in the middle of the current Coleridge Way trail. (The extension to Lynmouth is well underway, and being sign posted.) Words were collected from the trail, what they saw, heard, smelt, felt etc, and these were scribed down by teachers and helpers alike. In fact the pupils were so forthcoming that is was tricky for the scribes to keep up.

"The wind was whistling silently in the trees whilst brushing past my face was the light fluffy breeze."

Descending down the Holloway track of the Coleridge Way

"Waterfall flowing in me,
Waterfall flowing in you,
I can see it and you can too. 

Cold, icy water upon your skin
It pricks you like a pointy pin,
I can feel it and you can too,
thats the waterfall flowing in you."

Treasure!

The trail passes Monksilver 13th C Church which purports to have the oldest depiction of dentists in their Gargoyles.

"The wiggly roots knotted in a web of wonder."

At the foot of the trail in Monksilver

Back in the classroom the pupils worked on the art of writing our poetry, Mrs Mash and Mr Jelley along with teachers Mr Wedderkopp and Mrs Phillips drew on their educators acumen to draw some stunning work from the budding authors, many had no idea they could write poetry!

"Slimy, slow and sluggish slugs
Wow! this place is infested with bugs
But there's not just bugs, there's also decay
What hideous things I've seen today."

Back in the class with Mrs Mash leading the poetry workshop

The next job is for Mr Jelley to transcribe the poetry, then render into QR codes for laser etching and installing along the trail (with full permissions of course). With special thanks Stogumber School and staff for being so welcoming, and especially their pupils who rose to the task, what a day.

Laser etched QR code poetry should be in place early June, so keep your eyes peeled along the trail.

QR Code Poetry along the Coleridge Way

The school motif.

Mr Jelley and Mrs Mash were working with Timberscombe and Cutcombe schools this week on a Coleridge Way poetry project. Last year they worked with three other local schools creating poetry which was re installed along the trail in the form of QR codes. (Square bar codes)

Word harvesting

The first part of the day is called word harvesting, the pupils, all aged under nine, were asked to write down everything they could hear, feel, see, touch etc. They journeyed to a major Oak tree a little way from the village, which is represented on the school logo. Last year's poetry was all about snow, ice, numb feet and aching limbs. On Monday they expected the words to be more about flooding, water, rain and wind, but amazingly the sun shone and they had rather an excellent day.

The Oak is approximately 600 years old, so it would have been 400 years old when Coleridge walked this way, something the children found really interesting. Timberscombe has had a school for 300 years and over that time it has been a regular walk for the pupils, exploring and understanding their unique countryside.

An acorn cup

When the word harvesting was complete and the pupils had mud swilling from every welly boot, it was time to head back to the class to then take these words and craft them into some poetry.

At the Major Oak Tree

The final pieces when finished will be laser etched into slate then re installed along the Coleridge Way trail, most likely on finger posts, continuing the work started last year.

Children joining hands around the trunk

If you see any of the QR codes along the trail then they are easily de-coded with a free scanning app (lots to choose from) and the best thing is that they require no data connection so they work in the most remote places on Exmoor.

Pupils at the tree

Mr Jelley and Mrs Mash will be working with two other schools during March, and will be installing this second phase of poetry along different stretches of the trail ready for the summer.

New works for 2014

Coleridge Way February 2014
 'and the rain came hammering down'

We are still early in 2014 and The Coleridge Way works are getting underway once more. Firstly Christopher Jelley will be working on the QR code poetry project with three new first schools -  Timberscombe & Crowcombe, Stogumber and Stogursey. The pupils will be out in March experiencing the Coleridge way and writing poetry influenced by their environment just as Wordsworth and Coleridge did 200 years ago. These will be turned into QR codes (square barcodes) and then laser etched onto slate to be installed along the Coleridge Way. This continues the work started in phase one last year by Christopher, with the fruits of the 2013 poetry excursions now being visible along certain sections of the trail. The future work to take place in March, will hopefully complete the picture.

So if you see a QR code, laser etched onto stone on one of the finger posts along the trail, scan it with your smart phone and you will reveal the poetry written by a local child who was influenced by the Somerset landscape.

New poetry pieces are to be installed ready for early summer 2014.

On The Coleridge Way, 'Holloway Track' above Monksilver.
During the great floods of 2014!

More Story Boxes.

After last year's great success, the story boxes will be revisited again this year. The concept is very simple -  find a box read the story so far, add a little text (or drawing) but no more, and then leave for the next walker. Here are some SoundCloud clips of last year's multi authored tales, each audio was written by at least five different authors but they flow together as one.

The locations of the new story boxes are yet to be decided, but we will keep you posted on all developments, though placements will be from June until September this year so keep your eyes peeled.

There are often details about this work on the Storywalks twitter feed including images of the tales so you can follow digitally if you are unable to get out onto the trail.

On the trail of the Coleridge Way
where water falls in to chocolate streams.

The final piece of Coleridge Way magic comes in the guise of the Fly Catcher Project which has been talked about in previous posts. Coleridge used to call his notebooks and journals Fly Catchers as he felt his ideas were like little flies that seemed to flit away if he did not catch them down immediately. For the Fly Catcher Project Christopher Jelley has worked with the British Library to capture extracts from Coleridge's journals which were penned during his time at Nether Stowey. Christopher has geo-located these into environments which relate to the journal extracts and then made them visible only in location, forcing users to travel to view, and so experience the very places which ignited Romantic poetry.

This exciting project is now complete and below are the web links which enable you to open an innovative web-app in your mobile browser, as the files are location sensitive you will then have to travel to the three locations to view, but don't forget to open the links first.

The first is on the castle mound at Nether Stowey and includes an interesting poem written by William Wordsworth for Coleridge's son Hartley, but actually penned by Coleridge himself. The elements reveal as you circle the mound with the final piece on the summit.

http://coleridge.storywalks.info/STC-Stowey

The second at Watchet West Quay, to reveal  after download, walk along the west harbour wall to reveal each element in turn. These are extracts of four pages from the infamous 'Gutch Book'.

http://coleridge.storywalks.info/STC-Watchet

The third is Kubla Khan, geo-located at Porlock Weir, travel over the metal bridge to reveal the first segment. This version of the poem varies from the first publication and these slight differences are noted at the end.

http://coleridge.storywalks.info/STC-Porlock

Just to clarify, you will need to open the URL above before you travel to the locations as there is very little mobile reception in West Somerset. The award winning web-app will initially cache the files on first click, so amazingly they will work without any data or mobile connection at all once opened.

Each file has instructions, directions and text support embedded.

I know it's wet and windy out now, some will enjoy venturing out in these elements but when the weather is warmer do go and see the work in the landscape that inspired it.

Plans are Afoot!

This year has been a great one for new works and new directions with the Coleridge Way, and as we head towards the darker months, it's a time of reflection and planning the way forward for 2014.

So what's in store? Well some of it is tightly under wraps, and will be rolled out and celebrated in due course, (so no spoilers here, sorry) other parts like the QR code poetry and the story boxes which were such a success are to be built upon, made stronger and more diverse. 

Along the trail of the Coleridge Way

The story box project went really well, we had a great deal of input from a diverse range of walkers, some just added a drawing, others just their name, but lots of people picked up the gauntlet of adding to the tale and then leaving for the next.

Here are a few sound cloud links from text written by multiple authors, it's really interesting how the thread runs through them all, and when a single voice reads them out they begin to flow and meld as one.

The new story boxes are due to go live in June again 2014, (with funding approval in January, fingers crossed) which will be fantastic. The boxes will again be started ready for your discovery and input, last year we had Jackie Morris, (Author Illustrator) and Taffy Thomas (the first UK Storyteller Laureate) There will again be opportunities for established authors to be involved - so please do get in touch it would be great to hear from you.

Here is a little film made in June 2013 about the story boxes, as they were being installed along the Coleridge Way trail.

There will also be more of the QR code poetry as we hope to engage with another three schools in Coleridge Country, and re install these back along the trail. Also a sample of the QR code poetry is being published in an anthology of Exmoor poetry which will be available in time for Christmas.

So what of the stone image higher up the page? Well this is a secret of the Coleridge Way, for those who walk it discover hidden gems and surprises along it's path. Some are marked on maps, others are more esoteric, a carved well head, a tree root which looks like a monks hood. The story boxes and the QR code poetry engage with these personal histories, these individual imaginative elements, or as Samuel Taylor Coleridge once said.

A poet ought not to pick nature's pocket. Let him borrow, and so borrow as to repay by the very act of borrowing. Examine nature accurately, but write from recollection, and trust more to the imagination than the memory.

So let us trust to the imagination.