As a child in semi-rural Staffordshire I was fascinated by the natural world. As you look for and try to identify animals and plants, you have to become very aware of the detail of things, and not only of the object of your searching but also of the places where you find them. In so doing, you also become aware of the impact of the seasons and weather, and how these create the ever changing atmospheres of those places. So, in the 1960’s when I began to write poetry it was inevitable that the natural world and its heady concoction of sights, sounds and scents would become a key element of the poetry. However, it was not until the 1980’s that, what had been a fitful past time, became an important way of immersing myself in the locality and creating a ‘ poetic diary of place’.
In 2006 when my wife and myself moved to Seaford, a place I had known for 50 years. It was inevitable that the locality, with its fascinating and diverse natural and social histories set in stunning land and sea scapes, would provide endless inspiration that has given rise to five books of poetry.
A selection of these poems, inspired by Seaford Head and the Cuckmere Valley will feature as part of the celebrations of ‘Walk the Chalk’. You will be able to hear poems read via a QR code on the ‘poetry trail’ across Seaford Head that starts from The View. Another selection will feature in an hour long live poetry and folk music event on Friday 22nd September at 18.00 hrs at South Hill Barn. Music provided by the very talented Seaford based, multi-instrumental duo of Joy Lewis and Derrick Hughes.