We are delighted to be joined by 4 new volunteers, all of whom are in their second year of a Public History degree at the University of Exeter. Over the next few months, Tom, Ed, Laurie and Lewis will be supporting the ‘Landmark Travels‘ project, and have already been involved in planning and delivering the ‘A Visit to Luxulyan Valley‘ event last weekend.
To introduce them to the Storylines team, we asked them to share a few things about themselves… so here they are…
From L-R Laurie, Ed, Lewis, Tom
To get each of the students thinking about landmarks and the landscapes that they are embedding in, each of them has written a short essay about what the theme means to them…
“Who are you?”
Tomas van den Heuvel
More than some may realise, the geographical area we live in leaves a great impression on us and how we see ourselves. No matter where I go or how long I stay in England, my personality and memory will always be strongly connected with the flat and vast Dutch polders I grew up in. In a similar fashion, you will never be able to completely cut your ties with the soft hills of Somerset, the urban jungle of London, or the ragged coast of Cornwall. In the nineteenth century there were even historians and sociologists, such as Henry T. Buckle, who believed that the landscape and climate we grew up in determined every aspect of our culture.
Read the whole essay here- Who are you?
Landmarks In Perspective
Ed Groome
The Oxford Dictionary defines the word landmark as ‘An object or feature of a landscape or town that is easily seen and recognized from a distance, especially one that enables someone to establish their location’ but I would also argue that landmarks can symbolise the area in which they are situated, be that a large city or a small rural community and this is certainly the case regarding the landmarks affiliated with the Landmark Travels project.
Read the whole essay here- Landmarks
What do Landscapes mean to me?
Laurie Matthews
Growing up in the Southwest meant I grew up surrounded by some of the most beautiful landscapes in Britain. Dartmoor, cliff-faces and long, sandy beaches are just some examples of the picturesque backgrounds that 4 year old me scampers around in front of in the mountains of family photos my mum keeps tucked away in the lounge (no doubt to be used to embarrass me in one way or another!).
Read the whole essay here- What do Landscapes mean to me
Landscape and Jay Appleton – An alternative approach
Lewis Brady
Landscape is a kind of backcloth to the whole stage of human activity and has been instrumental throughout literary history. By the time of Homer in c.800 BC, the practise of referencing man’s exploits within the environment they take place had become well established and, from the birth of Christianity, invoking emotions of pleasure of fear through landscape had become common place. Today, whilst we have strong opinions on what environments we like, we rarely ask ourselves: what do we like about landscape, and why do we like it?
Read the whole essay here- Landscape and Jay Appleton
