Norman Nicholson: an exploration of his poetry and prose as observations of change
Beattie, Alan and Whalley, Brian and Whalley, J. Harry (2016) Norman Nicholson: an exploration of his poetry and prose as observations of change. In: Strata: Art and Science Collaborations in the Anthropocene, 15 January 2016, Aberystwyth University. (Unpublished)
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Norman Nicholson (1914-1987) was a poet, critic and writer. He lived for most of his life in Millom, southwest Cumbria. Like Wordsworth, he commented upon the stasis and changes found in this area of England. But Wordsworth’s Lake District is the tourist area, Nicholson’s ‘local habitation’ views the industrial and post-industrial coastal fringe.
We have been involved in examining and using Nicholson’s poetry that reflects environmental change and we report upon three themes in this contribution. First, looking at his poetry as reporting events through geological timescales up to the present day and examining his ecological perspective on the changing environment. Second, by musical performances (The Seven Rocks, Tide Out) that reflect geological formations through compositional process; for example, by considering the long sharp edges of slate, the compression in the formation of coal, and the texture of sandstone and granite. Third, a commentary via a play for voices links Nicholson to the Cumbrian artists Sheila Fell and Percy Kelly and their depiction of industrial change.
The Millom of Nicholson’s childhood had developed where rich iron ore (hematite) was mined from the limestone with coal at Maryport and Whitehaven. Thus, Nicholson’s poetry is strongly rooted in Cumbria’s geology, of the rocks and geological and mining terminology. His understanding of geology and vegetation is critical to his observations and comment on landscape change in the last hundred years. Nicholson’s commentary goes further than geological description. In Borehole he refers to the hematite extraction from limestone and Elm Decline is more than just Quaternary history. The mining operations led to barriers being built against the sea’s ingress, slag heaps and ultimate demolition of the ironworks. We also show how his poetry reflects social comment and observations of industrial interventions and change, including the construction of Sellafield (Windscale).
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