Sanctuary of Memory

I’m walking among shattered moonbeams
Crying in the snow,
The ghost of stately shadows
Cast doubt through the hollow, dreaming hills.
Swans in mourning are dying spirits
Sweeping through the snow flakes
Lamenting spent stars
Like a spectral morning breeze.
Sleepers wake to the ghost in the glass
The grail beckoning through ancient mist;
The black-marbled shining river dreams,
Its waves lapping the fringes of sanity
That lay like driftwood cast upon the shore.
My memory is a vortex of emotion
Swirling with red flowers
Down the hollow way
Like echoes returning.

Beach pebble tower.

Rock sculpture on Irish beach. The Dingle Peninsular can be viewed in the background.

Mirkwood.

This was an attempt to catch the spirit of the artist Gustav Klint, a painter I admire very much. The photo also inspired in me, visions of Tolkien's Mirkwood that features in the 'beloved' book The Hobbit. The photo was taken on The Ring of Kerry, west coast of Ireland.

'Dream Lizard'. Beach Sculpture, Singing Sands

This is art Jim...but not as we know it!
Big fan and follower of Chris Drury and Andy Goldsworthy who I find very inspirational, especially when walking on remote beaches or climbing up mountains. It is great fun handling rocks and wood to attempt your own environmentally friendly sculpture and often involving the family - have a go, you may surprise yourself!

Shingle beach near Cley-Next-the Sea.

How many times I've walked this shingle I don't know, but this part of North Norfolk still remains one of my favourite bird watching haunts of all time.

Stoned Henge!

This photo (copied from an old and dusty slide) was taken a friend Andy, in the 70's during a period when we would roam the country getting 'strange vibes from the stones man'.                                                     (Sadly still do!)

Stoned Henge - a great album by Ten Years After!

I was there! Great days. Rain, sun, music and great people.

Pink Floyd in the early hours, what more do you need?

The Land Of Arthur?

Tintagel Castle, Cornwall. The question is...is Arthur myth, legend or partial reality and what part does he play in the British psyche? (Something to dwell on...I know I do).

The Dead Trees.



Big in Poland!

                                                    The Dead Trees came together around 1983-84 and were greatly influenced by Joy Division and The Cure among other bands, although they pursued an individual sound. The members of the band were ephemeral in nature; in the beginning myself (vocals) and Al (lead guitar) (both pictured above) forming a sort of nucleus for a time. Other members came from such diverse bands as Blitz, Bullet, Portsmouth Sinfonia, Cruel Garden, Russian Front, The Bites and The Violators. A self produced Cd of ideas and demos is in existence titled Relic of Memory (taken from a Seamus Heaney poem).

House Sparrow.

Add caption

Male House Sparrow. A much underrated bird.

The Boys Are Back in Town!!

It’s strange how attached you can get to the birds that visit your garden, especially to the bird table. Our garden is a wildlife garden with two ponds, plants and flowers for butterflies, plenty of cover for shelter and safety (from cats, magpies and the local sparrowhawk), bat and bird boxes, bird bath and insect hibernation boxes – and of course a bird table. Of all the birds that sometimes visit the garden which may include goldfinch, greenfinch, robin, wren, dunnock, blackbird, and during the summer whitethroat, blackcap and willow warbler, my favourite birds are the house sparrows. We have a changing population of about six to ten pairs. Many of then nest and rear young under the eaves of our cottage. Their antics are a joy to watch, the squabbling, the coming and goings, the jostling on the bird table and the continual striving for hierarchy within the group. The greater the black bib, the higher up the sparrow hierarchy.

*Numbers of house sparrows in rural England have nearly halved while numbers in towns and cities have declined by 60 per cent. Because of these large population declines, the house sparrow is now red-listed as a species of high conservation concern. So when they suddenly disappear from the garden in mid to late summer it becomes a cause for concern as I gaze out forlornly at an almost empty bird table, other than a stalwart dunnock. Not a house sparrow in sight. Could it be they disperse into the countryside for a while?

But then after weeks of a sparrow-less garden ‘The Boys are Back in Town’ (and girls). Like magic they are appearing, sometimes one, then two and then four – but their numbers appear to be growing, the wait is over, we are back to the shenanigans of the house sparrow soap opera, or at least I hope we will be very soon.

My main problem now is a capricious grey squirrel that has suddenly taken up residence in our and nearby gardens – already my peanut holder is in tattered ruins!

*See house sparrows on RSPB website.