Soudley Ponds, Thursday 16th March 2023
After a little debate about the need to bring an umbrella or not, everyone donned their waterproofs
ready for a damp walk in the drizzle. (advice was not to bring the brolly, best to be ‘hands free’ for ease of work).
Successfully crossing the road outside the Dean Heritage Centre after Sara mentioned Health and Safety being important that each participant was responsible for themselves. As a volunteer we do not want accidents and when people are busy chatting, or looking up at the skies rather than on the path, tripping and potential for falls, one always needs to make everyone aware!
Sara introduced the group to a writer born in Soudley, Valerie Grosvenor-Meyer 1935 -2007. Her first
book ‘Margaret Drabble: Puritanism and Permissiveness’ (1974) an exploration of moral issues in
Margaret Drabble novels. Other published books include two on Jane Austen: a critical study (1980) and later a biography, ‘Obstinate Heart’(1997). Other books on the novel were ‘Truculent Spirit’ (1987) a history of critical writings about Charlotte Bronte, and ‘Ten Great English Novelists’ (1990).
Walking along the path and talking with someone we didn’t know we stopped by a large Douglas Fir
tree. Sara showed us how to build up marks to achieve texture and how to scribble with the biros to
build up marks/lines and tone. Everyone had a go at responding to each quick texture challenge, just to build up the marks on the surface of the page. As the drizzle continued and pages grew damp some of the biros chose not to work but we all had charcoal sticks that worked well.
The catkins were in abundance, the lichen hanging on twigs and growing on bark indicated the high
quality of the fresh air. A section of the walk we saw an area of devastation where the trees had been chopped down and the trunks removed leaving a site that looked truly dreadful.
When Sara first saw it she was so moved she wrote the following:
“Devastation
Opening up the woods to light
But where is the wood?
The trunks disappeared
and the habitat of creatures great and small.
A reflection of the Rainforest.
Moving toward the bridge area Sara asked us not to talk for a while but to engage with our senses, listen to the wind and the water, feel the soft rain on our faces, breath the clear air into our lungs….
As we walked towards the bridge the sound of the gushing water grew louder, the birds sang loudly and it really felt rather magical. With the upper pond in full view reflections were strong in the water.
Asking participants to rip half a page in the sketchbooks Sara demonstrated use of stick and paint, and feather and ink to make marks in the upper section of the page. One completed and folded down we had the delight of opening up the page to see the mirror image. With rather dampened by rain on paper to advantage, many of the lines and marks became ‘soft’ in the process.
Amazingly the drizzle stopped and work continued at a fair pace with nothing taking more than 3-5
minutes as these are starting points rather than a finished item. An opportunity to look carefully, slow down and enjoy the everyday that often goes unnoticed.
Having written words in response to a huge Yew tree, made sketches of a D shaped pipe, made a small drawing on a parcel label and admired a view across the pond, Sara picked various seed heads to demonstrate simple rubbings with wax crayons. Surprisingly the bench near where we stopped provided cut wood with woodgrain that was a delight to rub. Everyone completed about 15 – 20 pages over the walk and ultimately selected one page to show and share in a make shift gallery on the forest floor.
Always wonderful to see the wide range of approaches and wonderful responses. Several people gave readings of words which they had written.
Readings by Roger Drury
“I am a pile of thoughts. Jostling for a place pressed aside by footsteps. Tickled by the mushroom ministries. That ring the world i am a sense of being that shuts and opens possibilities cold paths and corners. “
“Frozen like sprayed starch that seizes my shirt and leaves it helpless. Doubled glazed like a fox in a mint..that nothingness in my ears never fades.”
Two hours flew by and everyone went for a hot drink and something to eat at the DHM café, ready to complete a visual evaluation. Canopy thanked everyone for their warm words which are always valued for funding application forms.
It was an opportunity to exchange news of ‘What is going on and Where’, with the date of the next
Creative Walk – Sunday 2 nd April, Newnham on Severn. Check out the Canopy website.
Thanks to everyone in the group today.
Testimonial
“Thank you so much for your wonderful creative walk around Soudley Ponds. I must admit to being a little bit nervous, but you were so welcoming and so inspirational. It was great to meet so many lovely, like minded people too. Cant wait for the next one.” Lisa
Canopy Creative Network 