From Oklahoma, USA

Sandra Dunn sent her Origami all the way from Oklahoma, and here they are on the line at End Of Term. The weather was changeable, so just in case, I put them into plastic origami envelopes - some so tiny I didn't want to lose them, and I wanted to protect them from the rain! Many thanks, Sandra, it was wonderful to have your contribution!

Pierland

"The plan is to travel to seaside piers in Britain, every last one of them. A self-guided pilgrimage to places engineered for pleasure, platforms supporting the act of seeing, bridges to nowhere."

Roy Bayfield, '360-degree Pierland', visits the Dovecote on Pier Hill
everypier.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/southend-london-flow-of-the-artside/

Work in progress

gradually building up the parts...

Rainham Marshes, Essex

Windswept and forlorn, Rainham Marshes are 'One of very few ancient landscapes remaining in London, these medieval marshes right next to the River Thames were closed to the public for over 100 years and used as a military firing range.' Beautifully restored to it's natural beauty in conjunction with the RSPB.

Benfleet Creek, Essex

This boatyard  is where old boats go to die - that's what we were told when we arrived there. Part graveyard, part boatyard for selling, and part residential, these boats are permanently moored in the mud, and acessable only by runways over the reeds.

wreck stripping, Thames Estuary

Leigh Marshes near Benfleet creek - a blisteringly hot day and this wreck has been stuck in the mud for years. We decided to investigate, and the teak and mahogany parts were gorgeous, but needed a few power tools to disengage them from the structure.  Local potter Richard Baxter dropped by and recommended Rainham Marshes for flotsam and jetsam.

After stripping the interior, and then metal parts, the roof slid off and into the mud - it was held together by a few nails!! Hot hard work wading through the mud to recover all of the salvage.

Tollesbury, Essex

What a gorgeous - but strange place! Situated on the mouth of the Blackwater, these old boat sheds, now listed buildings, are still occcupied.

Wallasea Island, Essex

A boat shed, empty, isolated, in the middle of nowhere. A burning hot day, and the washed wood bleached and wind-scrubbed. Perched on one of the myriad waterways in this area, we're on our way for more bits of boats.

1st April, Steel works

Collected the steel - and work starts! The internal skin of the Dovecote is constructed, and the steel painted with a rust-proof coat...

31st March, Boat Bits

Leigh Sailing Club, Leigh On Sea, Essex, very kindly donated 2 dinghy rudders, a stainless steel sink, a centreboard and a map-reading chest to the project!

Tollesbury, Essex

a wonderfully historic place...

Ballybeg Priory,
Ireland

Ballybeg Priory, County Cork, is a medieval priory with one of the oldest surviving dovecotes in Europe. This structure is a corbel-roofed tower, with nesting niches set into the walls, and a hole in the roof for the doves to fly in and out of. The stairway at the top of the tower was an additional defence post. The doves ate the waste grain from crops grown by the priory. Their meat and eggs were used as a staple foodsource, and droppings as fertiliser. When I visited, three swallows flew in and out, perching for a moment withing the stones of the roof, obviously a nesting spot still worth considering.