a ponderance

a good days graft today closing everything down around six and going for a walk to wind down, the rain seemed to just dissapear yet still umbrellas remained hoisted, I passed a group of people all spread around trying to keep their glad rags dry each making a frantic run for the coach each time the stair well became vacant, the coach taking them on their way to a wedding reception I guess looking at their dresses and lack of coats.

I watched a woman spending her millions while sitting on a bench, staring at her lottery ticket, perhaps she had won the lottery ticket.  as I watched her face went through a entire range of emotions and thoughts, all given way to a different facial expression that, I doubt, she even realised she was showing the world her thoughts.

HER EYES AND SMILES, FROWNS AND A SHAKING OF HER HEAD UP AND DOWN, SIDE TO SIDE, A LITTLE LOOK UPWARDS AND TO THE RIGHT SUGGESTING A DEEPER OR EVEN, SECOND THOUGHT, SHE PONDERED OVER WHO SHE WOULD SHARE THE NEWS WITH, EVEN I EXPECT WHO SHE WOULD SHARE HER WINNINGS WITH!  so engrossed was I that I did not even remember to take a fotograf or make a quick film of her expressions, privacy, a sacred thing.

Peoples faces and body language tell so much, the good, the bad, and, the ugly, the sick and needy, the well to do and the less foretunate yet their still exists the same group structures, everyone with those they aspire to and those they detest, many even have those who they look down upon in their group but who, in this day and age can look down upon anyone, even the Queen has her share of closet secrets that arn't quite as secret as her status should allow.

I thought of myself and was in a way brought mixed feelings, were there more like me then the government would have some major problems, as would supermarkets, social utilities companies and breweries!  It is society that controls the status quo and not they who have the finger pointed

Oh well, another day another blog!
Bye for now
andrew

period ending 20 May 2011

All goes well with the castle instalation, not too much happening at the moment though that really is semi-intentional, it was imagined from the start that it would be a huge undertaking with much more to do than one would at first think.

The local gazette continues to add support with our next update due in next weeks paper, yesterday the project had a plug on Lakeland radio which was a bit of an unexpected event having not been contacted by the station, imagine my surprise to hear of the broadcast from someone in a supermarket, also in the news the report of my former units return from Afghanistan and their humanitarian achievements while there, well done 2 PARA and welcome home.

My collection of fotografs of the castle from various locations around the town is slowly growing as every now and then I find a viewpoint that I was not aware of, this town continues to bring me surprises, not only in relation to the castle but as a town, always there is another little alley way (ginnel) that I've not found before, another picture postcard view, previously unseen in any special way but then along comes another bit of light illuminating the view.

This is a picture of the yard that housed a school and eight almshouses  built in the early 1600's, nothing to do with the castle simply a nice pic in the May sunshine.

The facebook site is the most active part of the process so far, now with over 600 friends even there I find pleasant surprises such as people commenting on fotografs at 3 in the morning, (thanks cherry for your dedicated support) it does make me wonder how history would have fared had the internet and social platforms been around for those who campaigned and worked for many of the charities and organisations that now rely heavily on facebook, twitter and blogs, we might live in a very different world now, only time will show if the presence of such powerful tools will affect our futures hence; the castle has also launched its Twitter feed today, http//twitter.com/poppybid it is a new platform for me and I am not entirely sure how to use it but, it is still early days.

The survey of the castle necessary to calculate the number of poppies and nets continues, not as quick as I would like however this is down mostly to my inability to climb the hill as often as I would like, even then, having conquered the climb the amount of work I am able to do is limited, this is now remedied as another local artist, Tim Leeson, has volunteered to help me out in my struggling attempts to scale the walls and rough ground, tape measure in one hand, sketch book in the other.

I am off today to meet with the Lib Dems Party Chairman, Tim Farron, it is not castle affairs that take me there but a charitable appeal to help save the funding for Stonham, a local housing project that serves homeless and vulnerable persons, hopefully there will be opportunity for me to pass on one of the castle cards to him in a bid to illicit his support for the project in the future, the Stonham Charity however must take priority, fingers crossed for both.

The CD carrying the new Poppy Song commissioned to raise funds for the Castle Poppy Bid, by Country and Western singer/songwriter Rita Bridgeman, is now weeks away from being completed, I have not heard it as yet and am really looking forward to it's release.

Till next post, best wishes
andrew 

The Castle

Work continues as the rewards grow up at the castle, around a third of the outer-wall has now been measured up, I could have done more this morning however a thicket of brambles and nettles, plus a young hawthorn thrown in for good measure, forced me to 'guestimate', the last 2 meters of the day,  a decision based solely upon my returning my open sandal covered feet to soft grass; it matters not, enjoyment is the name of this project as I persist in trying to avoid working to a tight schedule, that I reserve for nearer the completion date!

what never ceases to amaze me the level of solitude that can be experienced within the castle walls,  today's trip was of no exception even on my arrival and seeing around a million schoolchildren all sitting in a circle in the centre of the castle walls, I also knew full well that the moment they were released from the restrictions of 'class is on' there would be an a veritable 'explosion' of children in all directions the instant that a 'play-time' was announced, children are like sprinters on the starting block in such a situation, each hanging on their teachers words while waiting for the word that is the teachers equivilent of a starting pistol; I didnt have to wait long.

 Simon from the scaffold company

My peace continued even allowing a sketch while the children buzzed around me like little worker bees, all on a mission though I doubt I could have enjoyed the moment quite so much had it not been for my new, and recent, birthday gift, an MP3 Player, the soothing sounds of grover washington eliminating the children as effectively as telling them to 'go and play elswhere', if anything it was the constant and verbal vigilance of the teachers guiding each of the little terrors from the places where it would have been dangerous for them to play, always someone there to soften the games eh!"

The reason for the trip to the castle was to meet with the scaffold company rep.  I have looked at various ways to support the nets from the tops of the castle walls, scaffold was the winning choice as others such as wooden saddles straddling the tops of the walls or simple concrete weights were flawed in some way, risking potential damage, either to the building walls or the grass within the walls.  I have opted to encircle the interior walls with a box like structure of scaffold posts, each with short legs that will protect the grass ensuring that the minimal amount of grass will be deprived of light.  The scaffold not only will act as a 'hanger' for the nets but also the ballast necessary to prevent the nets being blown off or dislodged in some way, my fingers are crossed that this arrangement is suitable for the English Heritage.

Simon, from Harts Films came to do collect a little more footage for the project.  I have expanded upon the original plan, that being to make a short introductory film for future funding and promotional ventures.

The more I visit the castle the less I see it 'as an object', it has now become more of 'a process', not just from the project point of view but also in seeing the subtle little changes that occur in everything, the castle is, as we all are, in the process of 'getting older', what is now will one day become history; the work that I am doing now has an historical reference, will the walls continue to be maintained and remain exactly, for the next hundred years, or, will they slowly but surely fade away.

It is only the concept of time that allows for change, it is a fact that our time on this earth is too short to notice the changes in 'objects' and therefore  do not see things as being part of a process, the castle one hundred years had far more stones and wall height than now, one day, perhaps, maybe the castle will be of little more than a raised hump of grass covered land, seen only from the air, for that reason I have developed the short inroductory film into something more akin to a documentary style production; charting the ongoing process toward the castle walls becoming covered in poppies through to their removal and disposal, is a story and one I intend to document in film.

Nature starting to take its rightful place over man



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