BERKSWELL, WARWICKSHIRE, 17TH FEBRUARY 2025...

 

HS2'S INFLUENCE...

NESTING HERONS...

FIELDFARE...

WILLOW, COAL, OR MARSH TIT?

THE STOCKS...

BLACK UMBRELLAS, BATHING HUTS & THE RAILWAY LINE IN DAWLISH... (My new poem about Dawlish, Devon...)

 Black Umbrellas, Bathing Huts & The Railway Line In Dawlish…

Black umbrellas shade strolling, fashionable women from the daylight,

Whilst others hide beneath theirs upon a bench, at ease 

Under a streetlight along a plain esplanade, yet expansive,  

Matching the curve of the railway tracks, close to the sea’s reach.

Black umbrellas shield the seated women from clouds of white 

Billowing steam blown curiously landward by a jaunty sea breeze, 

As a broad gauge locomotive tarries, its emissions extensive   

On the no-man’s-land between the promenade and a sandy beach.

Black umbrellas and constitutional walking at the seaside resort,

Where bathing huts on wheels lie parked on the sandy shore 

All seem at odds with the timetabled railway intrusions, fraught  

With passengers and freight wagons and the rail workers’ furore… 

Pete Ray

16th February 2025…   

Really like this image from Edwardian times.

When I travelled several times by train from Birmingham to Plymouth as a child, the shock of entering Dawlish, the train squeezing between the promenade and the holidaymakers on the beach was a curious delight…

BERNARD LEACH'S TILES, ST IVES, CORNWALL...

 Bernard Leach’s Tiles…

(St Ives, Cornwall…)

Hewn stone’s rooted permanence, buffeted by gales

And whipped by salted breezes

Peers cold and forbidding

Over a bay’s stark presence

And legendary maritime tales…

Tiny chapel’s stoic reverence, blighted by style

And weathered by human whim

Displays, cold and ceramic

Across its floor’s worn surface,

Wallis’ nautical, memorial tiles…

Pete Ray

The Island Chapel, overlooking Porthmeor Beach, St Ives, contains tiles created by Bernard Leach, to celebrate Alfred Wallis’ achievements. 

Leach was also responsible for the remarkable Wallis grave, pictured below. 

I took an image of the artist’s well-used Godrevy Lighthouse from Wallis’ resting place and the vision was clear…

THE VIEW FROM THE GRAVE...

PORTHMEOR BEACH...

ALFRED WALLIS' HOUSE...

  

PRIMITIVE REALLY... (My poem about the paintings of Alfred Wallis, St Ives artist...)

 Primitive Really…

(Alfred Wallis, St Ives artist…)

Another cardboard box.

Pull it open.

Utilise it. 

Daub it quickly.

Ship’s paint applied.

Greys and darker for an engulfing ocean.

Dull masses, maybe,

As outcrop rocks.

Another featured lugger.

Centre it. Recall.

Maximise it. 

Infill it quickly.

Dark paint supplied.

Black and angles for the enclosing jetties.

Dull slab, maybe, 

For Mount’s vigour.

Another boat perhaps.

Angle it so.

Marginalise it.

Brush it quickly.

Black paint deployed.

Whites and lines for the sails and houses.

Brown symbols, maybe, 

Like aerial maps…

Pete Ray

I looked at Alfred Wallis’ paintings and really liked them…

Interesting that some symbols he used looked like those on maps...

THE RAILWAY CARRIAGE... My new poem, inspired by ANDREA KOWICH'S painting 'REUNION'...)

 The Railway Carriage…

( Inspired by Andrea Kowich’s painting ‘Reunion’ and an old image of me on a train…)

A mother knits, likely a school pullover for her son,

Who has been told to look out of the carriage window

At endless fields and the telegraph poles which seem 

To bob and weave, like mum’s needles in her busy hands.

He sneaks a glance at the camera however, a notebook between his hands,

Betraying rare disobedience for a child shy in the extreme.  

Dressed for school, en route to the seaside’s golden glow

And a rare chance to loosen paternal shackles and experience sheer fun…

A pet dog lies, a likeable companion for the woman, reflectively

Gazing through the carriage window with wistful expression.

Yet she seems unaware of the fields, the sunset, the moon’s rising

And the evening birds which weave, like nerves of uncertainty. 

Oblivious is she to the automobile, its role shrouded in uncertainty,

As she clutches a precious gift-box shyly, emphasising
Her reserve, whilst having dressed demurely for the occasion,

A reunion, a return, or a revisiting perhaps and thus considered pensively…    

Pete Ray

15th February 2025…

When I saw the above fine painting by Andrea Kowich, I was absorbed by the possibilities about the scene but I also recalled a photo taken by my father on a train, which was taking us as a family from Birmingham I the UK, to Plymouth and our summer holiday.

My notebook and pens were for noting down locomotive names & numbers…

I grew out of that…