Mysterious Woods

Dan and I at a secret location in the eastern Isle. We were surprised to discover trees with strange root patterns, twisted gnarled branches, and even faces! We were scouting out this jungle for caves and a possible finale to the Vectis poetry competition.

joy

Eve Jackson's poem 'Joy' has now been put up at the Freshwater Bay bus stop. This was the overall winner of the bus stop poems competition and is the last in a series of ten to be cast in bronze and installed at stops round the Island.

It was a bit of a struggle and my attempts to lay nine bricks on top of the pillar to make it tall enough made it look like a scale model of the Tower of Pisa. Wonky as it is though, it's now there and hopefully for a long time.

These three lucky people were the first to read it after installation, arriving as the quick-drying cement was still wet. I think the younger ones may not have understood much, but it seemed appropriate as the poem is all about children - and they did like feeling the raised text and drawings and were very patient as their mum read it out to them.

Here's the poem for you to read for yourselves. The numbers at the top are thought not to be original.

Giant step for Chale

Rumours of the giant of Chale re-emerged this weekend with the installation in the village green of Carolyn King's poem A Chale Tale. Judging by the the size of the footprint left in the soft verge beside Chale Green Post Office bus stop, he must present a formidable sight to anyone unfortunate to cross his path. Locals are being advised to stay indoors. Chale resident Dave Badman said "It's terrible - when I was a lad, you didn't have to think twice about leaving your house. Now there seem to be trolls and giants round every corner."


We would be glad to hear from anyone who has more information as to the giant's whereabouts.

Black day for poetry

A bus stop named after a road or a building makes sense and isn't very remarkable, but one named after a person is much more touching - specially when the person isn't a national hero or grandee, but a local character. Generations of music students used to get off their bus here for their weekly piano lessons with Miss Black. Over the years, her reputation and musical influence made her a much-loved part of local culture and she is still talked about today by her former students.

Another tribute to Miss Black has now been paid by Sylvia Bartram in the form of a poem. It was one of ten winners of the competition to write poems about the Island's bus stops and although the stop has now been moved about a hundred yards down the hill, this seems like the right place for it. The poem has been cast in bronze and, thanks to the present owners of Miss Black's house, set into the garden wall.


If you want to take a look for yourself, the Number 10's your bus!

The writing's on the wall

Jack Segal's poem Mill Hill Station is now in position in a rather crumbly old wall belonging to the Spiritualist Church in Cowes. It reminds passers by of the trains which used to pass by that spot, disappearing in a cloud of steam into the tunnel which can still be seen.
If you'd like to see some photographs of how Mill Hill Station used to be, take a look at
http://www.semg.org.uk/location/iow/millhill_01.html
Though the train doesn't stop there any longer, the No. 1 bus does!

Simeon Monument

It's much more difficult than I imagined to get even one layer of bricks flat. All I needed here was a small, fairly level plinth which would support a plaque with a poem on it. But after struggling for some hours with a sack of recycled bricks and a bucket of rapidly setting cement, it looked like the whole thing might congeal into something similar to the Tricorn Centre. Fortunately, Martin's children, Rebekah and Jonathan arrived just in time to straighten things out before they finally set hard. (It seems they do this kind of thing all the time in their home education group).

Anyway the latest poem in the Bus Stop Poem series is now in position. It is entitled Simeon Monument and was written by Pat Murgatroyd. Hop on a 6, 7, 38 or the Medina Tour and see it in the flesh!

New poetry installation

Installed at last - Edward Lyon's poem 'Oasis' on top of a big piece of stone. It looks like it's been there for years doesn't it? If you want to take a look for yourself, it's by the bus stop outside the Oasis shop on Carpenters Lane (near St Helens).

Vestas poets

The poetry box at Vestas Blades (wind turbine manufacturer) has now been up for several weeks and poems have been coming in at a surprising rate. The idea is to find interesting ways of reproducing and displaying some of them around the Vestas site. This little one was the first to drop into the box. It has been carved on a stone which we will set into a verge or flower bed somewhere near the factory.

Go Ape!

In exchange for giving my dad a hand installing his sculpture (see below) he helped me get the second bronze plaque with a bus stop poem on it into place Apes Down Farm, Calbourne. The poem of the same name laments the evident lack of apes in the area. It has been set onto a big slab of stone which we dug into the verge. This was harder than it sounds because the ground was very stony, but it worked out in the end. Hop on the bus and have a look!

Arts & Business prize

On Wednesday Sam and I went over to the Arts & Business Awards ceremony in Portsmouth. At the door of the new Aspex Gallery we were greeted by a saxophonist who was able to play in the rain while standing on top of a tall pair of stilts, which I felt must be worthy of some kind of arts award in itself. Inside, there were lots of guests milling around, examining an exhibition of tiny cut-out birds and light-sensitive cuckoo clocks.

Because the project to put poems on buses and at bus stops isn't complete, I hadn't expected it to win anything, but to my delight it was given the Arts & Business Community Award. Really, the trophy belongs to Southern Vectis, but we've got it for the moment. I talked to the artist who made it and she warned me not to put it in the sun as some others of hers have exploded. This makes it even more exciting to have won it while at the same time feeling like a good reason to pass it on.

1st Bus Stop Poem Installed

Following several hours of whizzing angle-grinders and hammer drills, the dust settled in/on Oakfield outside Premier Stores to reveal the first poem to be installed as part of the Bus Stop Poems scheme. The project has been made possible by Arts & Business. The ode, written by Clea Barton, details all the wonderful things to be found in Oakfield, leaving one in little doubt that it is unnecessary, even foolhardy to venture elswhere. While this is probably a bit off-message with respect to its public transport sponsors Southern Vectis, it did seem to have the approval of those waiting at the stop. There are nine more bronze plaques to be installed around the Island.

Poetry brings people onto the streets

As the organiser of Island 2000's poetry scheme, I'm pleased when members of the public get involved.

We recently ran a competition to write poems inspired by the Island's 1500 bus stops - the top 10 poems being cast in bronze and set into the ground at the relevant stops. Last week, the winners were announced in the County Press and on Solent T.V. I naively underestimated the impact this would have. This morning, cycling in to work, I noticed queues of people waiting expectantly at several East Cowes stops, clearly hoping to be among the first to set eyes on the poems.

I saw several Japanese tourists waiting near Osborne House, while 100 metres further down the road at The Swiss Cottage stop, a mother with three small children were camped out. Perhaps most heart-warmingly, a group of hooded youths had gathered at the bus stop by the East Cowes Town Hall, clearly high spirited in anticipation of the arrival of Margaret Prior's poem 'Useful Old Umbrella Tree'. Not wanting to dampen their spirits, I did feel duty-bound to let them know that the actual installation will probably not take place before April, but to my surprise, though they took the news with some incredulity, they remained steadfast, waiting by the bus stop. I returned to East Cowes town centre this afternoon to buy a sandwich and found that the youngsters, not taking any chances, had had the initiative to organise some sort of rota system and had been replaced by two pensioners. What enthusiasm! How nice to see young and old working together and to think that they have been brought together by poetry.