Pull Up A Chair Gravesham - Anne Langford

Last night I read the excellent ‘Everywhere means something to someone’ guide book created by Strange Cargo  and I got excited and intrigued about places to visit in Northfleet and Gravesend. To make this alternative guide book people are asked to nominate a place that they would recommend to a friend. Alongside the picture is a story, or a piece of history, or a recommendation, ‘the kind of information that once shared with others will make these locations richer and more interesting’. I ended up with a long list of places to visit, some wonderful stories and a recipe to try and make – Watercress soup. I also love the title (so much so that I pinched it for this blog post) It’s a useful motto for my explorations. Today was a desk day – I found a Pete Tong playlist (he’s a local boy) and went on a Wikipedia tour of Gravesham, through history and geography.  I had a look at some Kent Online news articles and picked up a chair. I found one in the street and decided to bring it h...

It wasn't a residency day today - but I found the water bottle, in a shoe, obviously. I exchanged some messages on Facebook and am intrigued by Rosherville Gardens, a now closed pleasure garden. A few people I know shared stories of the area via messages. I'm settling down with some of the books that Päivi leant me. So it feels like roots, or tendrils are starting to connect me to Gravesham in a delicate way.

I got up at 6am so I could go down to the river and arrive for low tide, 6.40am and sunrise, 6.45am. A lucky convergence – two natural cycles syncing up to start the day and the residency. I wanted to disrupt my usual day, and seek out connection with Gravesham. Except I stayed up late reading the children’s version of The Kalevala. I started with the English translation for adults but I was really tired. The children’s version was great but I ended up not going to sleep until 12.30am.  So I didn’t actually get up at 6am. I snoozed until ten past and then raced around to cycle down, not getting time for breakfast. It was cold and misty and grey, although the first photo doesn’t look it. I had a good mooch about along the foreshore, found a shell and beautiful piece of mother of pearl from an oyster. It was grey with mud and green with algae.  The pebbles were a similar colour to those at St Andrew's Quay – more bits of broken, river softened brick here. I sat on a rock and cal...

  Arriving. St Andrews Quay.  Please play with sound on. I was beachcombing / mudlarking when I soft buzzing became louder. I thought maybe a small boat or an electric scooter. I was a bit surprised to look up and find a 210m tanker, Mearsk Naimey heading into Tilbury Docks. I thought it would be louder. You can find out where she is now   here Birdsong Radar. Port of London Authority.  Please play with sound on.

I took 162 photos in 5 hours. Lots of them were too dark and there's a few photos of the tarmac. I'm going to have to think a bit more about what and how I document my experience. I also really need a better camera - I'm hoping to borrow one from a friend over the next few days. Here's a selection of things I saw and liked until my battery ran out.