Simon English
England Revisited
Summer 1971: Simon English visited 75 points across the country to write the word 'ENGLAND' on England.
Summer 2010: Simon English made a new artwork by revisiting those points.
Observation 1971
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Point:
12
Letter:
N
Date visited:
10th September 1971
Flag:
On a larch tree in middle of a crowded plantation (forestry commission) south of Silverhill Farm, 5 1/2 miles S.E. of Banard Castle.
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Observation 2010
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label
Point:
12
Letter:
N
Date visited:
21st July 2010
Observation:
On a Larch tree in a plantation that has grown to maturity since I was last here. When I visited in 1971 the trees were about 12 feet high and densely planted with the lower branches interlocked and tangled with bracken. Now the trees are about 60 or 70 feet high. Over the years they must have been thinned out and the lower branches brashed to give a beautifully open and light wood. The bracken has been replaced by clumps of ferns. In the thin woodland grass are the seed heads of bluebells so I assume that in the spring the forest floor is blue with flowers punctured by the emerald green crosiers of fern fronds unfurling.
I assumed, years ago, that this was forestry commission land however it is now MOD. The ground is soft with the accumulation of decades of fallen pine needles; this must be the one comfort for the cadets who train in these woods. The tree trunks have old bits of string tied round them. If I remember my cadet days I assume that the string once supported poncho bivouacs. At least the ground would have been soft to sleep on even if above was cold or wet.
There is no way that I could find the original tree so this time the flag is put on one that is in the exact grid co ordinate as was the one in 1971.
The only sound here comes from the wind brushing through the canopy high above, and the bleating of the sheep in the adjacent field. Here I think the farm puts Texel rams to blue faced Leicester / Swaledale cross ewes. This seems a successful modern breeding programme.
As for the fate of these Larches; will they be cut for timber or left to mature? As I write the spread of Phytophthora ramorum a fungus-like pathogen of plants is causing extensive damage in trees and shrubs and has quickly spread nationwide. This has prompted the widespread felling of Japanese Larch plantations. As to which variety of Larch are here at point 12, and how resistant or what fate is due them that remains in the future.
Points 12 & 11