Thursday 5 May 2011

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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