This is a link to a blog set up by two artists (I think?) who have taken it upon themselves to start travelling around the coast of the UK to try and “make some new seaside memories”. In doing so they are presenting images and text about their experiences, leaving an archive of touching, insightful and usually amusing journal entries along with some beautiful images of their travels. The latest post details a visit to Dungeness, home of the late Derek Jarman and a nuclear power station. I’ve clipped an image from their blog below…
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A great blog, which captures wonderfully the sparse, bleak beauty with which I associate Dungeness. Childhood walks along the coast always offered intriguing, ramshackle sights and invariably ended with a meal at a mysterious, isolated pub which seemed to exist independently of any community which you might expect it to serve. Like many coastal towns in Kent, Dungeness seems to exist in a different time, but somehow within a protective bubble which distinguishes it from other towns which seem to be perpetually fending off slow decay. If Dungeness had a soundtrack, it would be The Caretaker’s “Persistent Repetition of Phrases”
Thanks for your comments and link! It looks like you’re doing some really interesting work. Our aim is to look for the positive in the seaside towns we visit, and not just glory in the decay. The next place to be blogged about is Margate (will be online in February) and funnily enough, a lot of what I’ll be talking about in that entry relates to regeneration – I was awake all night after we’d visited, buzzing with ideas for its rebirth!
Isn’t this screaming out for a ‘Promenades Project’ to follow on from Benjamin. The seaside did hold a remarkable place in the culture of 19th & early 20th century England.