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Bright sunshine and an easterly wind made for a splendid otter hunt on the Blyth Estuary.

[Read more…] about Where Otters Dwell

There are only two weeks left to visit the Sculpture Trail.

[Read more…] about Contemplating art in the outdoors

22nd August on North Deans Beach

[Read more…] about Beach combing

On Wednesday 8^th August twenty would-be creative beachcombers – oh, and three very well behaved dogs – assembled at Covehithe Church to explore the ancient shoreline that had once been adjacent to ancient Doggerland, now submerged beneath the North Sea.  And on this particular day the sea reflected the blue of a breezy sky (most un-North Sea-like) and more akin to some imagined tropical Paradise.

Our happy bunch first sat down to picnic among the fallen sea-washed trees that decorate the Benacre end of the beach, but it wasn’t long before expedition leader Simon Raven had us using foldable frames to investigate shoreline detritus more closely – “getting our eye in”, he called it!  We each had to come up with one chosen item from our investigations and some of these were discussed as to their reason for choice.  Simon then shared some of his finds and small assemblages to get our creative juices flowing on the long walk down to Covehithe along the shoreline and beneath the cliffs.

After a while we reassembled at a place where Simon told us there had been a wreck of a clinker-built boat only three years before.  It turned out that one of the group had taken photographs of it, as well as of Covehithe in general, and he gave us his website address and file name for the photographic record – www.kbonnettimages.com / Recent Work / Time and Tide.

Here we shared our beach finds which included what were identified as 80 million year old sea sponges, now turned into flints.  There were also lovely bits of seaglass, holey pebbles, quartz, pieces of driftwood and an old rusting piece of metal that I will be converting into a contemporary life-style shelf!

All in all a fascinating day, full of information and playfulness, as well as time for contemplation – “very peaceful and relaxing” as one participant attested.  A great time was had by all.  Thank you Waveney and Blyth Arts for organising this opportunity.

Mary Cutts

Don’t forget – another chance to go beachcombing with Simon, this time at Corton, on 22nd August

It already seems like August with harvest well underway and the seemingly never-ending heat. Is it too hot to write?

Our River Dwellers poetry competition is open for entries until 10 August so you have a couple of weeks left to get your entries in.

Retreat indoors to a cool space and let your imagination take you under the river, with cool green light and the gentle caress of the water. Imagine life on the river, be inspired by its wildlife or its history, and write no more than 30 lines of poetry to share with us.

This year’s judge is poet and author Dr Jos Smith, who is Lecturer in Contemporary Literature at the University of East Anglia.

The top three entries will be invited to the Arts & Eats lunch on 20 September at the Waveney Inn, Burgh St Peter, where certificates and prizes will be presented.

Please send your entry as an attachment in Word format or as a PDF to mappleby (at) tiscali (dot) co (dot) uk

Please add a ‘Reply Read Request’ if you require acknowledgement of receipt.

Each piece must have a title and be typed on one side of A4 – no indication of the author’s name should appear on this sheet.

Entries should be in a clear font eg Times New Roman and without illustrations or photos

Full entry details elsewhere on this site.

This weekend the River Dwellers exhibition opened at the Ferini Art Gallery, Pakefield.

[Read more…] about River Dwellers – see, hear, write