OUT AND ABOUT
CO-AUTHOR, FENLAND NATURE DUNCAN POYSER
Click here to access an expanding digital sound map of Wicken Fen, a continuous live underwater audio stream and an interactive online Aeolian harp that’s responding in real time to wind conditions at the site. voicesofthefen.co.uk TUNE IN TO THE FEN
Fens fuelled my imagination about our ancestors; from nomadic Mesolithic hunter-gatherers and Neolithic farmers to Viking settlers, Roman invaders and medieval commoners – they all found ways to survive and thrive within wild fens. I struggle to comprehend the expertly crafted flint tool, 40,000 years old and found near my home, looking as though it were made yesterday. At Wicken Fen, we stepped back into the boots of Victorian naturalists. Following intense searching, we found a single Desmoulin’s whorl snail, a scarce and minuscule mollusc. As Simon went to photograph it, the vegetation was disturbed and the snail was lost. We had to start our search again to find another. We then looked for the yellow loosestrife bee on Sedge Fen, where its favoured plant grows in sunny clumps. After securing a permit for study, we got busy with a sweep net and revelled in seeing the characterful bee up close, complete with a bundle of oils and pollen on its tibia. There were many such moments as we worked on Fenland Nature , and my appreciation of the Fens has only grown through thinking and writing,
I made my first, fleeting winter visit to the Fens in 1997 and remember the wildfowl spectacle, the crisp light and a glorious sunset over the washes. Living in the Fens, I quickly developed a deep affection for this oft-maligned region, through the natural history of the tiny patches of remnant fen that escaped drainage. Having worked and travelled abroad, I returned to the Fens, drawn to the vast horizon, wild washlands and sombre reed beds. Though the Fens are home, they have an otherness that, to me, feels like being on holiday. Photographer Simon Stirrup (pictured to my right) suggested working on a book together in 2021. The themes took shape as we thought about the narratives of Fenland past, present and future, and viewed the intertwined stories through the lens of ecology, geology, archaeology, people and place. To enable fresh and interesting perspectives to evolve, we planned excursions to seek flagship species and memorable experiences. From days out kayaking and cycling to nights spent searching for moths, bats and badgers, we sought out varied tales to tell and images to share. Charged with meaning, ancient artefacts unearthed from beneath the
intriguing and captivating sonic worlds we might not usually notice. From giant acoustic listening horns and Aeolian harps that sing in the wind to handcrafted percussive woodpeckers and vessels of wild Fen clay that resonate with moving water, many of the sculptures incorporate natural materials gathered from the Fen and are powered by wind, water, solar and human kinetic energy. To create the installation, Kathy has been listening deeply to the Fen since January 2024, throughout the seasons – underwater, underground, high in the air and within reeds and vegetation – making sound recordings and drawing attention to the many species whose voices shape this rare habitat. So what does this area mean to her, as well as other local people with a close connection to it? We gathered four personal perspectives on the magic of the Fens to celebrate this unique landscape…
in depth, about the complicated landscape within which I live.
CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK JULY 2025 11
Powered by FlippingBook