The Dog's Grave
Here is the site of the original grove of trees that lends the country park it's name. Now it is much diminished in size after steadily being swallowed by the sea... Once, not so very long ago in the grand scheme of things, a dog's grave was exposed by a cliff fall. The owner of the beloved hound had left a message in a bottle with the bones of their faithful friend....
Things you could do
Writing Task - Compose a letter to someone or someplace that you miss, or to something you have lost.
Alternatively make a list of things that you would like to let go of, or need to say goodbye to.
You could read these aloud here if you like.
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Choreography - Hold your hand to your heart. Breathe deeply in and out for five cycles. Tip your head right back and drop it to your chest as slowly as you can. With both hands blow a kiss into the wind.
I have been visiting Mersea since I was small and it has always held so much comfort, wisdom and magic for me. The place is under my skin. It is a site of play and adventure. A place I have gone whilst falling in and out of love. A place I have rested and one where I have worked.
It has filled my head with wonderful stories and my belly with good food. I go to feel quiet. I go to seek inspiration. To take me time. To feel connected to something outside of myself. To dream...
This place is magic... And I am not the only one who thinks so. Twitchers, toddlers, dogs and their human companions. Other artists dreaming other visions of the place, friends having a stroll and a natter, flustered folks rushing for the foot ferry but periodically pausing to take in the view. It holds comfort and wisdom for them too.
And in the near future it will have changed dramatically. Predicted sea level rises are expected to wipe out 30-60% of Mersea Island's land mass by 2050...In less than 30 years the sea will wash over the Blockhouse, take under the pill box skeletons on the beach. She will have eaten more of the cliffs and begun to creep up towards the bird hide...
And while most of the dwellings on the island will be safe enough the whole landscape will look different. How will the Strood cope? Will it need to be altered to carry folk over or will they have to turn to boats just like in the old times. How will it feel to have more water between Mersea and the mainland...
To be that little bit further away than it felt before...
Realistically this loss of land is happening all around the coastline of Britain. The money is not there to build or maintain the defences required to keep things just as they are, and this would be an increasingly futile effort over time anyway. The world has not reacted quickly or assertively enough on climate change to stop, or even to diminish, these sea level rises.
Change is something to be accepted, anticipated and possibly even celebrated in these coastal environments. We try to imagine what the palliative care for this particular place might involve. How might we capture and preserve it as we love it in this moment.
To enjoy it for as long as we can and record it for that time in the future when we can not.
So please, come along and join us...
And together, let's go down to the Deepenings.
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Next Stop...Look/Out!
