Conceived as a collaboration between poet Nancy Gaffield and musical group The Drift “Wealden”, due to be published on November 10, celebrates the Kent landscape. Nancy had previously published “Meridian”, a long poem that articulates an exploratory journey along the Greenwich Meridian line across eastern England. Meanwhile, The Drift had been creating semi-improvised music inspired by the landscape around them – the marshes and the dense woodlands of rural Kent.
They agreed to collaborate on a new work, where Nancy would explore this extraordinary Kentish landscape, walking from the High Weald down to the sea at Dungeness. A lot of the land she traversed is only a few hundred years old, formed by shingle and silt thrown up by storms. This same landscape may only last for another few hundred years, as the sea level continues to rise. “Wealden” deals with the strata – geological, cultural and historical – that have been laid down over the course of one brief millennium, and considers the imminence of the sea reclaiming it all. The history of the Weald and the marshes is microcosmic of global patterns of human history and of climate change.
The music and the poetry were composed in tandem – the music re-worked to underscore the evolving verse, the poetry revised in response to the atmospheres and rhythm of the music.
The Drift are an unconventional group, comprising Darren Pilcher, Rob Pursey and Amelia Fletcher. (Rob and Amelia also perform as The Catenary Wires.) Bass guitar provides the anchor, while harmoniums, melodicas and violin deliver the melodies. Underneath it all, textures and rhythms are derived from loops of sounds sampled from the local environment – the soft rattle of sea shingle, the delicate crackle of dried reeds and the smooth rush of ferns.
“Wealden” was first performed at the 2019 Words and Music festival in Rolvenden Layne, Kent.
“Wealden” will be available from as a pamphlet and CD from the website. The audio recordings will also be available digitally. There is a video to accompany the third and final section of the poem.
Image Credits: Longbarrow press .