Crowhenge - A Community Art Project

It is an unavoidable fact that I am a bit morose living in a village after 3 decades of international city life, however, the drive to convince myself otherwise has at least resulted in a project. So ladies and gentlemen I give you.... CROWHENGE! 

The project began as an adjunct to the Crowhurst Neighbourhood Plan (NP) a community strategy which emerged over the past 3 years to give the village influence in how local housing development quotas are managed. In an earlier attempt to convince myself I belong, I volunteered to build and manage the substantial NP website. In the lead up to what was a very successful NP referendum, I was asked to submit ideas for an art project to represent the village and reflect the community ethos that had underpinned the NP. 

This was the basic proposal: 

Crowhurst sits in an area of outstanding natural beauty in which trees are one of the dominant features of the landscape. 'Crowhenge' will use local woods to create a 7-piece structure linked to key elements of village life: Community, Environment, Heritage, Youth, Business, Farming and Sanctuary. All community groups, businesses and organisations in the village can then contribute something that represents them.  

One of the woodland trusts in the village RSPB Forewood generously donated the wood for the project. I had Oak, Sycamore, Silver Birch and Hornbeam. Stage one was trimming, shaping and sanding. 

The project began in March and was installed in July. It is ongoing in the sense that people can still add things to it at any time. It is the first time I have done a project of this nature from concept through to completion on my own. It was tough but I am pleased with how it turned out in the end. It was also great to meet people like the 92 year old master carver in the village who created the title sign and to work with the school and various other youth groups in the village. Working with kids is great. They have none of those adult insecurities about 'art' so you don't have to constantly reassure and cajole them into getting involved and then (often) have to do it yourself anyway. 

Full details of the project and how it unfolded are on the website and the Crowhenge Facebook page so will just post some project images here. 

Back to the Garden

The last time I looked at this blog was August 2013 when I did a post about a trip to Dublin. It is now December 2014. Those past 18 months have been spent shovelling an awful lot of sad and horrible sh*t under the bridge. The upshot (much aided by insane London house values) is that we have exchanged a small Victorian terrace for a whole house with a magic garden in a Sussex village.

I am originally from 'round these parts' (to be said in Sussex accent) so I guess I should just see it as finally coming home after a 33 year trip. In that 33 years I have always lived in cities - London, Tokyo, Jerusalem, Dubai - and spent a lot of time in many others. I like cities. I enjoy being stuck in an empathetic crush of anonymous humanity so I will miss it.

However, being in the new garden has also made me realise just how much of  my rural childhood environment I have carried around with me. There is a palpable and familiar exhilaration at the changing light, colours, textures, sounds and smells. What makes this garden magic though, is an awesome variety of plants that are also familiar from those 33 years of travelling. There are Japanese Maples, Cedars, Pines and Cherries, Chinese Willows, Black, White and Sacred Bamboos, mosses, a Golden Rain tree, a Tulip tree, an Iranian Honey Locust, an Indian Bean tree, Cacti, Magnolias, tropical looking ferns and others I haven't even begun to identify yet.

I am sure we would have left London before we keeled over and died but the combination of circumstances, and finding a house that we weren't even looking for, means that anyone viewing this blog will now be inundated with photographs of plants. So if you don't like the colour green, look away now.....