Raven’s Watch Dunhill recce
An early start after a late night, we met in Dunhill early Sunday afternoon to walk the route of the performance. Outside Harney's the sun warmed our backs as we ate ice-creams before being collected by Paul for the second leg of our journey. We piled into his red Micra and headed down the road. A dense sheet of crows shot out from the field beyond the hedgerows, filling the visible sky with their bodies as we passed beneath.
At the foot of the castle, we came upon Joe perched high on the rock and Shauna below plotting and calling, discussing placements and positions. From here we started our journey, working our way back down the road and along the Anne Valley walk.
We stopped intermittently, at benches, low walls, posts, platforms, grassy verges and standing stones, each a space to host it's own part of the story. The placements within the spaces were assessed, and lines of sight established .
We continued on in this vein, chatting and walking, gesticulating and discussing, all the while Amy making detailed notes of the decisions and requirements along the way.
The overhanging trees soon changed into a landscape of low undulating hills which opened up around us. We rested a while on a long bench and ate our sandwiches in the warm Sunday sun. Staying still it became more noticeable that the walk was full of families, dog walkers, very young cyclists, people of all ages, admiring the scenery, the wildlife, the fairy doors. Even so there is a great feeling of isolation and peace in this valley.
On the move again, the hilly landscape gave way to wetland; bulrushes poked up from the land around the trail and there was the sound of water flowing. Soon we reached the final staging area, the track giving way to an open gravelled area and a large amphitheatre of concrete and stone.
Reading about the proposal is one thing, but seeing how the individual stories will unfold as one progresses along the constantly evolving trail is another. Open road becomes a yellow surfaced trail meandering through marshy landscape, woody sheltered glades and open quarry faces, river views and rolling hills. These all form the backdrops for the different scenarios and characters as the walk progresses and the stories are woven. A more appropriate theatre could not be gotten or foretold.
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