From July, families visiting Rye Harbour Nature Reserve can enter a treasure hunt that will lead them on a level 3 km journey in search of some of The Lost Words species.
In this easy treasure hunt, visitors can pick up an entry sheet from the discovery centre, then follow the mapped route to find the missing words on our special poetry boards, featuring Jackie Morris’ exquisite artwork and Robert Macfarlane’s poems from the Lost Words book. Completed entry forms can be included in a prize draw and the winners will receive copies of The Lost Words book.
The book came about because some children’s dictionaries began removing words such as dandelion, acorn, bramble, starling and magpie because they were no longer thought to be relevant to children. In response Jackie Morris and Robert Macfarlane created a stunning collection of paintings and poems to re-engage both children and adults with the natural world. Macfarlane described his poems as “spells” to enchant the reader while Morris’ paintings are gilded to recall the significance of religious icons.
Since January, The Lost Words for Rye Harbour project, led by S Morgan, has been ensuring that nature vocabulary remains current, by introducing visitors, locals, children and teenagers to the idea of writing about nature, recording nature and creating artwork in response to nature at Rye Harbour.
“It has been great fun working with so many different people,” Morgan said. “We’ve written poetry, letters and essays, made masks representing birds and animals on the reserve, recorded the sounds of the reserve and created ‘sound maps’ of these recordings. So far nearly 100 participants have taken part in Lost Words for Rye Harbour activities made possible by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and we hope many more will have fun completing the treasure hunt.”
Further Lost Words for Rye Harbour activities include an art exhibition in the discovery centre in August, an exhibition of poetry and artwork at Rye railway station, a creative writing trail in the autumn and a performance of poetry and creative writing at the discovery centre in September.
Image Credits: Morgan Greenhalf .