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:
5
Letter:
E
Date visited:
9th September 1971
Flag:
On fence by bridge over railway at Heads Nook. 6 miles east of Carlisle.
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Observation 2010
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label
Point:
5
Letter:
E
Date visited:
10th July 2010
Observation:
On an ash sapling growing from the narrow grass verge next to the wall where the ‘fence’ was in 1971. It seems that the ‘fence’ was actually a gate locked after the station was made redundant and closed after the Beeching report in the 1960’s. In the intervening years the gate has been removed and the gap walled up. This has been done to match the original stonework. The job has been well done so that the join is not obvious, possibly done by removing one course from the top of the original wall so that the weathering matches except that the rounded capstones are rougher on the repair than the original.
Looking over this wall one can see the remnants of wood and iron that was the flight of steps that went down to the platform from which one could originally catch the westbound trains to Carlisle. This is hard to see in the summer through the foliage of sycamore and ash saplings growing on the bank of the railway cutting now. Who knows at what stage these shall be cut back, anymore than the ash that I pinned the flag. At some stage it shall grow big enough to be a traffic hazard before or after it breaks the wall.
The structure of Heads Nook rail bridge is as it was in 1971. The fact that the west parapet is blue brick and the east parapet is red sandstone blocks suggests that the west section needed rebuilding or the bridge was widened in the distant past.
This particular place - Bridge NEC2/153 Heads Nook is the point on the map from which, when I was doing the original mathematics, I measured out all the other points of ENGLAND.
To the north of the bridge the trimmed hedges have grown up so now the gable end of ‘Rose Cottage’ is obscured by an apple and a hawthorn tree. This house had originally stood alone but now has many neighbours in a new close of houses.
Although the station has long gone the original lane down to it on the north side of the line is still used to allow maintenance crew access to the rail track. Recently a new gate and fence has been erected along what once must have been the platform. This has required a great deal of sycamore and ash brush clearance of that seems always required when our society abandons a site and nature starts to reclaim it.
Points 8 & 5