Anthology Alert (13): A Pocket Full of Spring Fever

I have just received a copy of the second volume of A Pocket Full of Spring Fever, edited by Sue Kendrick, owner of Writelink. The small-format booklet contains the winning entries from the 2011 Spring Fever competition. My poem, 'Observations from the Hide', was awarded second prize and appears on p.14.

Publication Pointer (4): Rivers of Britain by Stuart Fisher

Book Cover, used with permission

A new book, Rivers of Britain Estuaries, Tideways, Havens, Lochs, Firths and Kyles by Stuart Fisher, has just been published by Adlard Coles Nautical, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. A quotation from my sonnet, 'Egret on the Loughor Estuary', appears as an epigraph in chapter 8 on the River Loughor.

Little Egret,  Loughor Estuary

The photograph above was taken when we lived in Swansea and spent happy hours with our cameras and binoculars at the Llanelli Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre.   

Rivers of Britain is a beautifully produced volume, packed with glossy photographs of Britain's best known tidal, picturesque and industrial rivers. Small waterways are not forgotten. Stuart Fisher, editor of Canoeist magazine, is extremely well qualified when it comes to writing on this topic. He even undertook some of his research from the vantage point of his kayak. 

Most of the 70 chapters begin with a few lines of geographically topical poetry. These chapters are illustrated with an array of fine photographs, not only of the waterways but also of topical postage stamps and book covers (John Buchan Society member that I am, I was particularly pleased to spot The Thirty-Nine Steps on the pages relating to the Firth of Tay). There are wildlife pictures like the urban fox on p.84 and the young seal on p.149. Each river is described in detail. Maps are provided along with brown sidebars of factual information, such as the length of a given watercourse, its OS location and nearest rescue services. 

I was particularly pleased to find quality photographs of familiar haunts such as St Benet's Abbey, the King Harry Ferry, the nymph and dolphin mosaic from Fishbourne and the Chanonry Point Lighthouse, to name but a few. I wonder which of the featured places are favourites of yours, when it comes to 'messing about on the river' ...   

• Rivers of Britain, Estuaries, Tideways, Havens, Lochs, Firths and Kyles by Stuart Fisher can be purchased from the A & C Black online shop. Click here.

Creature Feature (3): Tiger, Tiger

'In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?'
William Blake

Helen Calcutt and Peter Tinkler's Tiger, Tiger site is growing in leaps and bounds (if you will excuse the pun). The exciting news is that the project has now linked up with the Born Free Foundation, thanks to the support and involvement of Richard Bonfield, BFF Poet-in-Residence.

If you would like your creative 'tiger' work to be considered for the Tiger, Tiger project, you will come across the guidelines here. 

There are a number of pieces up on the site, so do take time to have a browse. You will find creative contributions from the following:

Helen Calcutt | David Calcutt | Richard Bonfield | Anna-Louise Pickering | Sarah James | Julie Boden | Ruth Stacey | Vera Franklin | Rosemary A Bach-Holzer | Saba Zai |  Nita Lewsey | Jackie Fallows | Jenny Hope | Rosemarie Rowley | Siobhan Harper | Jacqui Rowe | Janet Smith | Lucy Jeynes | Gareth Partington  ...

I also have two Tiger, Tiger poems on the site, which ... you can read here -

• by scrolling down for 'Isabella ...'* and 
• by clicking on my name, Caroline Gill, for 'Muffled Drum'.

It is a sad fact that there are probably only around 3500 tigers in the wild in our world today. You can read about the Born Free Foundation's concern for this amazing wild cat here.



* This poem was first published in Reach Poetry (ed. Ronnie Goodyer and Dawn Bauling, IDP). 

Poetry Matters (18): 'Creatures of a Dead Community' by Lynn Hopkins

Author: Lynn Hopkins (picture of cover used with poet's permission)

Publisher: Peter Thabit Jones, The Seventh Quarry Press (2011), The Seventh Quarry

Photographs: Moelwyn Hopkins

Illustrations: Rhian Elin Thomas  

Price: £4.50 

ISBN: 978-0-95674547-3-6

'From a lofty bed,

two hands clasp a kernel

as if in prayer'

from 'The Grey Invader' by Lynn Hopkins

It is hard to think of Swansea without picturing the curve of the bay. It is an iconic yet ever-changing seascape that can be enjoyed from numerous angles. If we associate Peter Thabit Jones with the view from Kilvey Hill, we can now link Lynn Hopkins with those sweeping vistas from another vantage point where 'sea breezes blow', namely the hillside that 'stands in stillness', supporting Oystermouth Cemetery.

This 'dead community' has found a special place in Lynn's affections. For her the cemetery is a place of 'peace in beautiful surroundings'. It is a place that has inspired her first collection, a sparkling quiverful of twelve poems about the wild creatures that make their home around the graves. They are very much alive, and for Lynn their presence proves that 'life goes on, even in a dead community'.  

I have known Lynn for some years, although our paths have not crossed frequently. She is currently a student on the part-time humanities degree at Swansea University. It was a privilege to attend the recent launch of Lynn's volume, and to hear the poet reading her own work. Artistic acheivement runs in the family: Lynn's husband was also a published poet. It was a thrill to meet the poet's daughter, Rhian, whose delightful illustrations are the perfect complement to her mother's words and to her brother, Moelwyn's photography. It is not often that three members of a family have worked together on a project of this nature. 

Publisher, Peter Thabit Jones, adds that Lynn's poems are 'accessible, sound-textured and tender'. He makes the shrewd observation that although they are written in English, Lynn is bilingual and brings to her work that added dimension or 'sense of craftsmanship employed by poets working in Welsh.' Lynn's detailed approach is both arresting and engaging: the poet weaves her stories of the wild creatures into a compelling warp and weft of carefully chosen words. 

In this poem-sequence, we encounter the statue on the cover (see above) of a pensive woman, clutching her 'private book'. Word and image combine to conjure up a sense of the pain of loss, but they also manage to convey a fragile sense of future: the reader is encouraged to consider the possibility of a time when tears will be no more. But for the present, this woman of stone has to suffer the dubious company of her faithless feathered companions, the 'Magpie, raven, and rowdy rook'. 

The choice of vocabulary keeps the reader alert. Just when we are tempted to feel that all is tranquil and serene, with butterflies fluttering over 'this haven of rest', we are reminded that it is folly to think of this place as an entirely peaceable kingdom. Instead, we are confronted with the stark reality of the horrors of death and war and 'butchered hearts'. The black cat 'with two sides' to its face sums up this paradox to perfection.  

So thank you, Lynn, for introducing us to your new circle of companions - the snail, the 'wily' fox, the 'brown owls' on their 'brittle boughs' - and all the other cemetery dwellers. Thank you for helping us to appreciate the world around us in a new way from the perspective of a place where sea meets sky, and where heaven and earth are bound in life and death.  

If you would like to buy a copy of this captivating and lyrical collection, I suggest you follow this link to The Seventh Quarry Publications, and scroll down to the bottom of the page for contact details.

• Lynn Hopkins: Part-time Degree Student’s Publishing Success

Window on Wales (4): Castles in the Frame

Dryslwyn Castle: shades of summer . . .

I have just been enjoying the photo gallery of castles in Wales on the BBC Wales site here. If you have photos that you would like to submit, you will find the details on the site.

I wonder how many castles you think there are here in Wales! I knew there were a lot, but I had no idea that there were this many, with about 100 'still standing'.

It made me wonder how many of these have either featured in poems or provided inspiration for poets over the years. Speaking personally, I don't have to think very hard to name a few castles (e.g. Carreg Cennen, Tretower, Dryslwyn and Manorbier) that have influenced my own writing to one degree or another over the years.

Incidentally, you might like to see the wildlife I have seen recently as part of The Tree Year project (see side bar) in the vicinity of the castle at Dryslwyn.

Window on Wildlife (14): Red Kite

David (Gill) took this photo of a Red Kite at the weekend. I thought I was posting it on my wildlife blog, 'Wild and Wonderful', but since it ended up here, it seemed a shame to remove! 

                                

I have posted a close-up of the Kite here.

Buried Treasure: Puffins!

Seth Apter's...

Welcome | Croeso to my Puffin Post, which I am re-posting as part of Seth Apter's Buried Treasure collaboration, in conjunction with Seth's inspirational art blog, The Altered Page. The brief was to 'excavate' an old post and give it a second life... so here goes. Enjoy!

Saturday, 3 October 2009

Puffin Quest 3: OAPS (Old Age Puffins)

Coastcard Puffin Design
© Caroline Gill 2009

Puffins at the RSPB Reserve,

Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire, UK

Those who follow my blog will know that puffins are probably my favourite bird. They float around in 'rafts' on the sea, looking like small jewels or beads in a necklace. They are often referred to as the 'clowns of the air' because they look so comical when they fly. I took a number of photographs, trying to capture their different poses: I hesitate to say their 'expressions' because this is a word I associate with humans. I hope you like the result!

Puffins seem to have been in the news a bit these past few months. I blogged about the rare sighting of the Tufted Puffin a couple of weeks ago.

[Ed.- you will find a link to that post from this one! You might also like to see my puffin bookmarks in this post].

I have now been given an unidentified newspaper clip about 'the oldest known puffin in Europe'. The bird was ringed back in 1975. Another puffin found in the same vicinity of Rough Island, part of the Shiant Isles, off Scotland had first been ringed in 1977.

• Wildlife Extra: apparently a puffin on Iceland may be even older!
• British Trust for Ornithology OA Puffin Report

-------------------------------------

By the way, if you enjoy exploring the natural world, you might like to hop over to my new 2010 blog, Wild and Wonderful.

Previous Comments:

4 October 2009 00:18

steven said...

hello caroline - i was astonished at the ages of the puffins!!! i had no idea!! by the way - the puffin card is really lovely!!! they've always been my favourite bird. have a peaceful day. steven

4 October 2009 14:02

Crafty Green Poet said...

I didn't know puffins lived so long!

Your puffin card is lovely, really captures their character...

Window on Wildlife (13): Wild and Wonderful

Damselfly at Dinefwr

I feel the time has come to post my wildlife photographs on a separate blog, so this post is to introduce you to Wild and Wonderful.

This 'Caroline at Coastcard' blog here will focus more specifically on poetry and writing from now on.

Window on Wildlife (12): Damselflies

These creatures begin life in the water and move out from it as they develop. We have about forty types of Dragonfly and Damselfly in the UK. More than twenty species can be seen at WWT Llanelli. I am wondering how many varieties I have spotted here and at Dinefwr near Llandeilo.

This is my first attempt at identifying the different kinds of Damselfly, and I am finding it a tricky task. If any reader can put me straight over wrong identifications, I would be very grateful!

WWT Llanelli

[a]

Above

Enallagma cyathigerum - Common Blue Damselfly

[b]

Above

Ischnura elegans - Blue-tailed Damselfly

****

Dinefwr

[c]

Above

Enallagma cyathigerum - Common Blue Damselfly

[d]

Above

Enallagma cyathigerum Common Blue Damselfly

[e]

Above

Ischnura elegans - Blue-tailed Damselfly

The ‘threads’ here indicate a damselfly recently emerged from the aquatic nymph phase.
My thanks to Professor P. Brain for this information.

[f]

Above

Enallagma cyathigerum - Common Blue Damselfly

[g]

Above
Enallagma cyathigerum - Common Blue Damselfly

[h]

Above

Ischnura elegans - Blue-tailed Damselfly

[i]

Above

Ischnura elegans - Blue-tailed Damselfly

[j]

Above

This may be the...

Pyrrhosoma nymphula - Large Red Damselfly

N.B. Each letter - [a], [b] etc. - is meant to represent an individual Damselfly in the photo below.
There may, of course, be more than one picture of the same species!

• Damselflies on the British Dragonfly Society site
  

My previous post is largely about the Dragonfly.

Creature Feature (16): Wildlife at Mwnt, Gwbert and Cardigan Island

Mwnt from the Cardigan Farm Park
You can just make out the white bell tower of the Church of the Holy Cross, halfway up on the right.

We enjoyed a visit to Mwnt on the Cardigan coast of Wales last weekend.
The weather was glorious and we saw some interesting wildlife.
This was the first sign (below) we saw as we left the NT car-park at Mwnt...

This is the church in its glorious setting...

We were just enjoying our cliff-top picnic when we spotted our first seal...

After lunch we drove the short distance on to Gwbert,
to do the coastal walk around the Cardigan Island Coastal Farm Park.

We were thrilled to see this Common Lizard,
who had ventured indoors.
It was 'rehabilitated' seconds after this photo was taken.

Out on the cliffs we spotted a few Oystercatchers...

and this female Stonechat...



We spotted a Skylark ...

having watched Pipits earlier at Mwnt...

Suddenly we spotted this 'tortoiseshell' bird.
It was my first Turnstone:
an exciting moment!
The bird is sporting its breeding plumage.

By now, we could see Cardigan Island very clearly
from our gorse-lined cliff path...

I tried out my mini-tripod for the first time,
to see if I could get a steady shot of the bluebells on the island,
and of the nesting gulls.
I'm afraid I was only moderately successful,
but it gives an idea of the beautiful blue swathes.

We spent ages with these gulls, waiting for more seals to surface,
but the tide was high
and there were a lot of motor boats about, making quite a racket,
despite the speed limit in these conservation waters.

The Herring Gull below was nesting on the rock between the mainland and the island.

I have often seen Burnet Moths on the cliffs at Mwnt.
We were too early this time, but I did spot the caterpillar below.
It unrolled itself and trundled off into the grass.
It was pretty fat!

There were scores of small blue butterflies from the Lycaenidae family,
but they were too fast for me to catch on film
and I did not like to disturb them.

However, this beautiful creature from the same family
was quite unperturbed
as I took its photograph
on the way back to the car...

Small Copper Butterfly

Postscript...

We kept our eyes on the water as much as we could in the hope that the Porpoises or Bottlenose Dolphins would appear. We did not spot any on this occasion, but I was pleased to read on the Whales in Wales blog that they were definitely around. I hope you were able to enjoy fine weather in your neck of the woods, and that you spotted some interesting flora and fauna, too.

• BBC website: Gwbert panorama
• A Coastcard Land&Lit post on the Mwnt | Bardsey Island literary associations
  

Calendar Corner (10): New Nature Writing Course

I'm told there is a 10% discount for Wildlife Trust members on a Nature Writing course at Ty Newydd, Llanystumdwy, North Wales this May. The tutors are the well-known naturalists, Nigel Brown and Mark Cocker.

This 4½ day course will involve trips out everyday to study the local wildlife and then time back at Ty Newydd for group work and individual writing. This course is suitable for beginners as well as more experienced writers.

The course would develop writing skills. The organisers say that 'We are very keen to work with Wildlife Trusts and are therefore very happy to offer a 10% discount to members.'

Chris Kinsey asked me to pass this information on to others who might be interested...

Window on Wales (3): Beach Huts, Langland

It's been a long winter, but at last there are signs of spring. My thoughts even turned on to summer when I read Kay's post about beach huts. It made me wonder whether those of you who live in other parts of the UK or beyond have a beach hut photo to post?

I took these in the summer, when there were blue skies overhead. Langland is on the Gower Peninsula. It is adjacent to Mumbles and very close to Swansea, home town of the poet, Dylan Thomas.

Incidentally, speaking of Gower, you might enjoy looking at these fabulous adder photographs at Nicholaston on the Welsh Wildlife site, accessed via the excellent Gower Wildlife Blog. I was amazed to think of adders in early spring, especially after such a cold winter.

Window on Wildlife (10): Biodiversity Countdown 2010

I only discovered very late in the day that NRAS has designated 2009 as 'The Year of Rheumatoid Arthritis'. It is a shame that so many months have gone by, but good nonetheless that there is this opportunity for heightened awareness and for the sharing of new initiatives.

***

On quite a different note, but still on the subject of special years, I see from the RSPB/RSPB Cymru that the countdown has already begun for 2010, the UN International Year of Biodiversity.

If this all seems a bit far removed from the average person in the street, or even the birder in the hide, I wonder what ideas we could come up with to increase the impact of the initiative at a local level - or in a way that has relevance for those we encounter via the virtual world of the web.

• British Ecological Society
• Rare beetle found in North Wales
  

Window on Wales (2): South Wales Writers' Day 2009

We had a very blustery ride over to Porthcawl last Saturday for the annual South Wales Writers' Day, organised for those who care to come and, in particular, for the members of the four Ready Writer groups along the M4 (Porthcawl, Llantrisant, Blackwood and Swansea). The groups are associated to the Association of Christian Writers.

We had a Gower theme this year. You can read more about 'A Gander's Tale' on my Land&Lit pages here, and on the Ready Writers blog here. The book can be purchased or downloaded here.

We met in The Rest Hotel, a large building high up on the cliff above Rest Bay in Porthcawl. It used to be a respite care home. Florence Nightingale was consulted about the design way back in 1871, when there was talk of a new convalescent home for the area. You can read more about Florence Nightingale and the hotel here.

Window on Wildlife (9): And now for the good news...

In these grey days of credit crunch and swine 'flu, it is good to hear that more than 350 new species have been discovered in the Himalayas in recent times. You can read about them here.

Window on Wildlife (8): Panda-monium

Do take a look at the Pandamonium exhibition in Selfridge's, in connection with WWF (more panda artworks on this site). We failed to find a Radio Times this week for the television listings, and ended up with a copy of the Telegraph (Sat 29 Aug), which alerted me to the story. I wonder if you remember the WWF panda collection boxes...

Meme Moment (2): A Favourite Book

The Weaver of Grass is inviting us to post on a favourite book. I am treating this a bit like Desert Island Discs in the sense that on this occasion I am assuming that I may also squeeze the Bible and the Complete Works of Shakespeare on to my raft.

I have blogged recently about the poem, Cadgwith, by Lionel Johnson; and since I can recite this by heart, I do not need to take a copy of this poem with me.

This whittles my choice down to:

• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (perhaps I could smuggle this slim volume aboard after all)
  
• my John Buchan books (including his Collected Poems),
  
• the anthology of 1930s poetry that includes the poem Zennor by Anne Ridler.

... but on this occasion I shall opt for The Collected Poems of Edward Thomas.

Of course there are many other books that spring to mind. I might have to exchange my raft for a cruise ship.

Why Edward Thomas? The book is weighty and has a satisfying feel to it. I knew little of Edward Thomas, possibly just his wonderful poem, Adlestrop (and here) before I moved to Wales seventeen years ago, but I have since grown to love his writing. I attended an excellent course under the aegis of the Swansea University Department of Adult Education, entitled 'Three Thomases: Dylan, RS and Edward'.

Edward Thomas was a deep thinker who engaged with the natural world. He went on long walks and noticed the birds, the nettles and the country ways of life.

I am not a great supporter of wars, but I admire the fact that Thomas chose to enlist for the Great War, despite being of an age at which subscription did not apply. He was killed by a stray shell when he had only been writing poems (as opposed to prose) for a very few years. I have probably mentioned it before, but his poem The Owl encapsulates for me so much of what Thomas was about. It was written when the poet was at home in Steep in Hampshire on 24 February 1915. He appears to have been troubled by the fact that young men had no choice but to join the war effort. Perhaps Thomas was wrestling with his own conscience. By 8 April 1917 he was dead.

My chosen volume shows the text of the poem on one side with notes on the facing page. I find this fascinating and very helpful. Thomas made few alterations to this poignant poem. There is certainly a wistful note in many of the poems (one is called Melancholy), but there are poems that are less pensive.

David and I became fascinated by the colourful poem Swedes (number 26 in my volume) a few years ago. We wrote a short article (link to first page) about the ancient Egyptian background to it, which was published in OUP's Notes & Queries.

So for a number of reasons, Edward Thomas wins out, and - providing I can find a waterproof cover - his Collected Poems edited by Professor R. George Thomas will join me on my raft.

• Friends of the Dymock Poets
  

Window on Wildlife (7): Oxwich

You can read about our weekend wildlife walk here...

Any help with the ID of any of the species would be much appreciated!

Window on Wildlife (6): (Not a) Lizard...

Kilchurn Castle on Loch Awe, Scotland

• Lizard?
• Castle (with David)
• Orchid

We drove past this wonderful loch-side castle en route for the isle of Skye last year. It was one of our regrets that we did not have time to stop, so this year we made a point of including Kilchurn on our Scottish itinerary. The castle was built by Sir Colin Campbell in the middle years of the 15th century. Recent research into masons' marks indicates that some of the masons who worked on Rosslyn Chapel may have moved on to exercise their skills at Kilchurn.

It was rather dull weather when we there, but I found some colourful views on Google Images.

The orchids were truly amazing in their beauty and abundance. I recall my school days in Kent when it was considered a red-letter day if we spotted an orchid in the wild. However, my excitement at seeing these flowers was surpassed on this occasion by the delight at finding and photographing the small lizard. I have occasionally seen lizards in the wild (we once found one in our back garden before we moved to our present house), but this lizard was so colourful. I have looked on the internet, and it may just be a Common Lizard; but its markings seem a little unusual. I kept coming across the Red Eft on the web, but I have a hunch that this was a lizard and not a young newt.

• Reptiles and amphibians of the UK

STOP PRESS: My thanks to Chris, the Co-ordinator of the Sand Lizard Captive Breeding Programme and Administrator of RAUK (www.herpetofauna.co.uk) for telling me that my

'first assumption of a Red Eft is closest. It is, in fact, a juvenile newt.'

The fact that the pale stripe down the back continues to the tail apparently suggests that the creature is a juvenile Palmate Newt.

Window on Wildlife (5): RSPB and Tigers

The RSPB is supporting an initiative to save the Sumatran tropical forest home of the tiger. Do take a look at this amazing project - here.

• See the tiger here.