When creative words take over.

Whether the sun is shining or the winter winds prevail Whitby is somewhere I always enjoy.

I am not very good with words and certainly not that creative when it comes to them, but the last time I was staying there, whilst my little boy was nodding off to sleep… I strung together my first song/poem… it has chords and I have an idea of what instruments should be on it, I can hear, acoustic guitar, mandolin, harmonica and a hurdy gurdy. But believe it could be also read as a poem…


The Sands Of Time:


The tides erode the sands of time,
O’er the harbour, St. Mary’s chime,
Through the cobbles many tread,
The husks of living, the souls of the dead.

The abbey stands amongst the heather,
While the sailor unties the tether,
Off into the black they go,
Following the path of Endeavour.

Whale bone upon the horizon,
Looking out onto the ocean,
Old Tom, steps out from the dark,
To witness the early morning commotion,

Whispers of terror within the crescent,
First blood spilled, the hapless peasant,
Mountains dark by the moonlight tide,
Turn and sail to the empires pride.

The ships cat runs through arguments alley,
Red stone arches in a tree lined valley,
Harbour bridge rings out it’s bells,
Be quick boys, load up the galley…

G.M, 2010.

The 1st verse is referring to the complete dinosaur fossils which have been found on the beaches.

The cobbled streets leading to the 199 steps up the cliff to the church.

The people it attracts, still many of the same kinda faces spanning centuries.

The 2^nd verse refers to the abbey dating back to 656 which was attacked by the Vikings. Standing by the abbey, looking down on the busy harbour watching the boats sail off into the distance. The Endevour being Capatin Cooks ship.

3^rd verse is again reference to Cook and the whale bone monument.

Old Tom, was the town drunk whom I met one evening.

We shared a bag of chips as he told me of being born in one of the old cottages of Henrietta street.
He did just seem to come out of nowhere and also said he got up at dawn each morning to watch the boats get ready.

No prizes for guessing the reference for the 4^th verse. This is a nod to Bram Stoker and writing Dracula whilst living at the Crescent.
Mountains dark refer to Romania and the shipment of the Counts coffins from there to Whitby England.

The final verse; Arguments alley is a ref to arguments yard, it is a corridor leading down to an area where sailors would hang out and yo get a great veiw across the bay.

You often see a black cat around here washing his paws…

The arches are little up the river surrounded by beautiful woodland and the steam railway.

The bell still sounds for the lifting of the bridge, where you can watch the hard work that goes into being a fisherman. 

Photos provided courtesy of Chris at WhitbyWeather.com


http://www.whitbyweather.com/

65 Years Of Moomin Celebration.

The Moomins are a family of hippotomous looking trolls created by Swedish illustrator and writer Tove Jannsson.

In a Finnish woodland you will find Moomin Valley where the family reside in their little cottage.
Previous to the cottage they have been known to live in a lighthouse and a theatre.








There were nine books in the original series starting in 1945, followed by five picture books and a comic strip series in the London Evening news in the 1950’s until the 1970‘s.

Within the books we see the Moomin family go on adventures and meet various friends in tales with mean and motto.

Jannsson has spoken out openly about the inspiration for the Moomins whom she took from her partner and family, and has said ‘Little My’ was a look at herself.

Some of the characters could be described as gloomy or melancholy, such as the Hemulen or Hattifatteners who travel around in groups. The Groke is a black hill with glowing eyes…

Music plays a big part within the stories with descriptions of the sounds of instruments, all the characters sing songs and poems about their thoughts which present statements of their characters personality.

For someone who had the Moomin books read to them as a child they left a lasting impression.

As much as I loved them; I remember those glowing eyes, and the little light on Moomin Papas boat sailing through the mists of forest, certainly caught a youngsters imagination; to the point that I would skip pages…

Just before Christmas I was delighted to find out that one of the local art galleries was celebrating the 65^th anniversary of the Moomins.

The ground floor of the gallery was transformed into Moomin Valley, dimly lit, peeping eyes through the trees.

Fairy lights showing the way around the little houses and boats to lead you into the main exhibit area opened by Finish ambassador Pekka Huhtaniemi.







Weekend workshops were being held, you could learn to create Moomin mobiles, cross stitch, cakes and much more Moomin paraphernalia

Until the 15^th January you could visit over 100 original illustrations. Some of them amazed me by the their size measuring no more than 2” by 3” but still maintaining the intricate detail.

There was other Jannsson exhibits displaying magazine covers and adverts during the hey day of propaganda in the 2^nd world war.
They were a great insight into the tongue and cheek humour which surround Nazi Germany by other countries.

My gallery visits were most enjoyable, being 10 again, the slight unsure feeling those glowing eyes gave me, now following me across the valley was something quite magical.

Being able to view the original pieces which are known so well, to the insight of Jove Jannssons interesting life… was by far the greatest specialised exhibition I have encountered in Lancashire so far.