22 Nov Poetry Walks with Devon Mind
Having piloted our nature-inspired creative workshops, we are partnering with Devon MIND to deliver a programme of activities throughout Autumn in support of nature connection and wellbeing in the community. Last week, a small but passionate group gathered for our first walk and poetry session in Wembury.
Stuart Riddle, communities officer for LotE, reflects on the day’s activities:
“Clipboards in hand, we headed down the holloway from Ford Road towards Wembury Beach, pausing periodically to soak in the glorious sounds, scents, and sights around us, mindfully reflecting on the ways the landscape spoke to us.
Emerging from the woods at the bottom of the path, Wembury church is framed proudly before us. From there, we wended our way through the meadow, on to the beach before returning to the village hall via the fields. All in all, a slow 90-minute walk.
Thanks to the wonderful views and natural beauty on its doorstep, the landscape at Wembury lends itself to creative inspiration. Collectively, we learnt more of the village, enjoyed lovely moments amongst nature and relaxed in each others company. I feel sure I can speak for us all when I say we left with a newfound gratitude for the bluetit’s song, the murmur of the brook, and the colours of the autumn trees.
Once back indoors, warm drinks in hand, we mulled over the notes and reflections we had collected along the way, distilling our ideas into sentences. At this point, we began passing our sentences around, inviting others to help enrich our words; the goal was not to ‘correct’ our work, rather to let it develop organically with the support and fresh perspectives of the group.
Upon finalising our original sentences, with or without the suggestions our friends had offered, we cut each out separately before rearranging them into two coherent pieces of writing which captured our beautiful walk. we were struck by the very different ways each of us had experienced the walk, with some taken in by the general wonder of the nature around us, and others by the beauty of specific elements and fleeting moments of that nature scape.
Inevitably, the final pieces are not perfect poetry – whatever that might be. However, we did produce two pieces of writing which certainly reflect our morning together in Wembury, and most importantly, served as a focal point from which many moments of mindfulness, connections, and conversations about the beauty around us were sparked:
“Rustling leaves, twisted trees. Boughs bent and adorned with lichen.
Cold toes, runny nose. Crunch, crunch under foot –
A moment of silence.
Clear, glassy water tumbling gently over river stones and meandering towards the sea.
Leaving the woods and the sounds of autumnal leaves, to fall upon an expanse of blue sky and the hiss of the distant sea.
The gentle flutter of a flag atop the church spire remembers a distant day.
Twittering ahead, as we natter along, in nature is where we belong.”
“Nature, she frames our view of ourselves.
Out in the open, open skies, open eyes, open minds – Wrapped and guided by the wisdom of the holloway on its journey to a hidden place.
A myriad of unfurling ferns leading us to secret turns – Natures church, with dappled light, echoes of autumnal glass.
Always mothering, she busies herself in our care.”
We have four more, very different, sessions planned with the group and hope to do more in the future which you can find out about from our events webpage. I very much look forward to the next stage of this nature-connectedness journey together.”
To find out more about this group, please email: [email protected].
